Final Atelier Class Presentation Showcases Hildegard Opera Progress

Gabriel Crouch conducts musicians in a rehearsal room with a detailed drawing of a woman with flowing hair projected high above on a wall

Photo by Brandon Le

A violinist performs in front of singers at music stands

Photo by Brandon Le

Photo by Brandon Le

A performer holds a folder and sings and a musician stands with an upright bass

Photo by Brandon Le

A performer plays the harp in a rehearsal room

Photo by Brandon Le

Performers sing from books and music stands in a rehearsal room

Photo by Brandon Le

A person dressed in black stands between a harpist and a violinist and talks

Photo by Brandon Le

Photo by Brandon Le

Photo by Brandon Le

A collection of musicians playing different instruments plays in a rehearsal room

Photo by Brandon Le

Two performers sing to each other as a bassist plays in the background

Photo by Brandon Le

Three performers circle around a fourth performer on a stage in a rehearsal room

Photo by Brandon Le

A performer lies motionless on the floor as another performer checks their pulse

Photo by Brandon Le

The fall Princeton Atelier course, “Hildegard: Creating an Opera,” brought Princeton students together with composer Sarah Kirkland Snider and conductor Gabriel Crouch to develop the eight lead vocal roles for the upcoming opera Hildegard.

The course also allowed students to create their own works based upon the musical language and vocal style of Hildegard, a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages.

The final class presentation on December 8 at McAlpin Hall in Woolworth Center showcased both the student-created works and scenes from Snider’s opera, with a small ensemble conducted by Crouch and directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer with projection design by Deborah Johnson. The opera, written by Snider and based on the life of Hildegard of Bingen, will premiere in 2025.