Photo Credit: Steven Laxton
SEVEN SISTERS, a chamber opera
Music: Justine F. Chen
Libretto: Stephanie Fleischmann
Director: Aya Ogawa
Dramaturg: Cori Ellison Seven Sisters Videos
Music Director: Kelly Kuo Short Trailer Aria "Childless"
GRANTS: 2021 OPERA America's New Works Exploration
2020 OPERA America's Opera Grants for Female Composers
2020 WEST EDGE OPERA'S Aperture Portfolio
An unflinching, epic, funny exploration of the dysfunctions of family and the fallout of growing up Taiwanese-American. Juxtaposing the intensely personal with the sweeping presence of the universal, this boldly theatrical new chamber opera veers from the sublime awkwardness of caustic satire to wildly lyrical moments of emotional expansion, weaving together sounds ranging from the glamour of old Hollywood to Taiwanese folk music; Chinese Opera; kinetic, pulse-racing rhythms; and a haunting emotional resonance rooted in the timeless struggle for agency and voice. Framed by the ritual of a Taiwanese funeral, and threaded through with the myth of the Pleiades reimagined, Seven Sisters looks at the hard truths of a culture that demeans and disempowers women and asks: How does the next generation move beyond this legacy, bridging a cultural chasm that privileges silence?
WORKSHOPS:
- Libretto Reading Workshop Preview available upon request
Piano Vocal: 4.08.2022 - NYC - Manhattan School of Music
- PV workshop available upon request
CAST:
Sister 1: Lyric Soprano Sister 2: Lyric Mezzo-Soprano
Sister 4: Soprano Sister 5: Mezzo-Soprano
Sister 6: Soubrette Sister 7: Coloratura Soprano
Maggie/Young Matriarch: Spinto
ORCHESTRATION: 3 vln/ 3 va/ 3 vc/ 1 db/ 1 perc
The development of SEVEN SISTERS received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Female Composers Program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
JUSTINE F. CHEN
COMPOSER AND VIOLINIST
SAVE THE DATE:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SONG join us at the composer's round table in Cincinnati, OH 5/12/25
Justine's cycle of Asian Americana: ALIGHT, poetry of Ophelia Hu Kinney, sung by inspiring force of nature, soprano Jennifer Lien.
BIG CONGRATULATIONS to the stunning soprano Jeanai La Vita and pianist Justina Lee on their beautiful recital, and performance of my song with the words of revolutionary suffragist Crystal Eastman at the Bronx River Arts Center!
Check out our rave review from Gramophone of SHALLOW BREATH AND STEALTH
LISTEN on Spotify YouTube AppleMusic
BEST WORLD PREMIERE! Our "Fantastical, evocative, and nuanced" opera THE LIFE AND DEATH(S) OF ALAN TURING was named BEST WORLD PREMIERE by Chicago Tribune!
All content in this website, including text, most images and sound files, is ©Copyright 2025 by Justine Fang Chen.