SOLARIS
MUSIC BY STEFAN SWIK
LIBRETTO BY TONY ASARO
Glen Gould and Bunny Laden are the Production Sponsors for the workshop of Solaris
in Honor of Maestro Joseph Marchesos Decade of Artistry and Leadership to Opera San José
This season, as we explore love in all its complexity through four remarkable productions on our mainstage, Opera San José is also embarking on a bold new venture: the creation of Solaris, a groundbreaking sci-fi opera about love, longing, and the limits of human understanding. Adapted from the classic novel by Stanisław Lem, this new work is being developed under the guidance of Music Director Joseph Marcheso, with music by composer Stefan Cwik and a libretto by Tony Asaro. This fall, Solaris will come to life in a workshop at the Heiman Digital Media Studio, culminating in a live studio capture of the staged reading on October 11.
Details about the performance
Where:
The Heimain Digital Studio
2149 Paragon Drive
San José, CA 95131
When:
TBD
Time:
TBD
SYNOPSIS
In Solaris, Dr. Kris Kelvin arrives at a space station orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris in response to a distress signal, only to find the crew in psychological turmoil. He soon learns that the planet has the ability to materialize physical manifestations from the subconscious minds of those aboard. When Kelvin is confronted by a replica of his deceased wife, Rheya, he is forced to relive buried trauma and question the boundaries between memory and reality. As the station’s crew grapples with the moral and existential implications of these “visitors,” tensions escalate, culminating in a haunting exploration of grief, perception, and the unknown forces of the universe.
The Creative Team
Stefan Cwik
Composer
Stefan Cwik is a composer and educator whose work bridges collaboration, innovation, and multimedia storytelling. He studied composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with David Conte, later earning his graduate degree at The Juilliard School under John Corigliano. A former Composer-in-Residence with Symphony Parnassus, Cwik premiered multiple orchestral works including Concert Dances for Orchestra and a piano concerto featuring Scott Foglesong. His music has been performed at venues such as the Herbst Theatre and Peter Jay Sharp Theater, and recognized with honors from the BMI Student Composer Awards and ASCAP. Recent projects include Transfigurations—an orchestral work with animation by Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado—and a collaboration with Camarada and visual artist Tatiana Ortiz-Rubio in January 2024. Stefan’s Eight Miniatures for chamber ensemble is published by TrevCo and recorded on the MSR Classics label. He currently teaches Music Theory and Musicianship at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is a member of ASCAP.
Tony Asaro
Librettist
Tony Asaro has worked as a librettist, lyricist, conductor, vocalist and producer throughout New York City and the Bay Area. Tony served as Co-Founder and Artistic Director of FOGG Theatre in San Francisco for its entire 11-year run. For FOGG, Tony wrote both music and lyrics for musicals The Cable Car Nymphomaniac, Flocked Together: The Green Parrots of Telegraph Hill, and LifeCycle. Prior to his work with FOGG, Tony’s musical Our Country enjoyed two successful productions in New York and won Best Musical in the Planet Connections Festival (NYC) in 2009. Tony’s oratorio Such Beautiful Things (composer Jeff Parola) was commissioned by Choral Chameleon in 2010. His opera All Wounds Bleed (composer Chris Cerrone), commissioned by American Lyric Theater, was presented in Opera America’s New Works Forum in 2012, and received its world premiere at Tulsa Opera in 2013. It has since been produced at Brooklyn Music School, Chicago Fringe Opera, and a virtual production at University of Michigan in 2020. Tony’s one-act opera The BoatMan (composer Alon Nechushtan) was commissioned and premiered by Con Vivo Music in New Jersey in September of 2022. His libretto adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, in collaboration with composer Theo Popov, has received numerous readings through American Lyric Theater. He also wrote the libretto for Zheng (composer Shinji Eshima), which was presented in a workshop performance at Opera San Jose in 2023. Tony received his undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University in 1998 in Theatre and Music, and later received his Masters Degree in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU, TSOA. In 2008, he was awarded the Anna Sosenko Award for songwriting. He is currently a Resident Artist at American Lyric Theater.
Maestro Joseph Marcheso
Joseph Marcheso is the Music Director and Principal Conductor of Opera San José, where he has led over 25 productions since 2014. His musical leadership has guided the company’s artistic reputation through critically acclaimed productions such as the world premiere of Where Angels Fear to Tread, the West Coast premiere of Silent Night, and the Bay Area premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas. This fall, he returns to conduct Così fan tutte and Madama Butterfly. Marcheso also created the Resident Conductor position, the most comprehensive professional opera conducting program in the U.S. He served on the conducting staff of San Francisco Opera covering major works by Wagner, Strauss, Britten, Adams, and more, including several world premieres. A graduate of Dartmouth College and father to a 6 year old, his interests include Legos and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Atlanta.