"The collaborators are Misha’s dream team and secret weapon. The work began with poetry she wrote after seeing a sea lion off the rugged coast of British Columbia. This poetry became the libretto for the work, magnificently set to music by Elliot Cooper Cole. Scored for piano and cello (beautifully played by Jeremy Wood and Olive Chen, respectively) and two voices (Penton and fellow soprano Natasha Manley), Cole created an expressive soundscape that used impressionistic and Straussian “flavors” along with his signature haunting modal milieu. Cole is a writer of melodies, and there is no shortage of them in this work. At times the sound was so lush and full, I could hardly believe it was not played by a much larger ensemble. Dancer Meg Brooker provided elemental choreography for the ensemble, then flowed seamlessly into her own gravity-defying, swimmy/floaty presence..." By MaryBeth Smith, SOMAQuest.
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