OPERA LAGUNA — Step inside Laguna’s past with the world premiere of Ghosts of Laguna: Ye Arch Beach Tavern. After last year’s sold-out workshop, the opera returns with a newly scored chamber orchestration, an ensemble of singers, and an expanded story that reveals more of the town’s hidden history.
Set inside the once-thriving Arch Beach Tavern, Pamela Madsen’s score moves between the ethereal and the immediate, carrying us from the glow of silent films to the shadows of prohibition and capturing the spirit of town unlike any other.
Join us for the premiere of this evolving work and experience how history and imagination meet on stage in the heart of Laguna Beach.
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Da6pzhY5J/
Doors 7:00pm
Program 7:30pm
In this wonderful program, David discusses my work in a pre-concert lecture and the concert itself starts at the 58:30 mark.
Full program here: https://issuu.com/csuf_cota/docs/molly_pease_and_david_bergstedt
Longing (Tesknota) Song Cycle by Pamela Madsen
(from In America: Modjeska (2025))
(World Premiere)
I. Lost Father
II. Hymn to the Earth
III. A Tree Ascended There
IV. Arden
V. Parallel Disasters-Loss and Gain
***** Intermission *****
Which Side Are You On? (from North American Ballads) by Fredric Rzewski
Proof and Disproof (an opera for one alone) by Pamela Madsen
Movements V-VII
Recovery Family by Molly Pease
From I to We by Molly Pease
The Singing of the Waves: Nereid’s Lyre by Pamela Madsen
Approaches and Departures (from Four Meditations for Orchestra) by Pauline Oliveros
Molly Pease, voice
David Bergstedt, piano
CSUF New Music Ensemble
Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano, & David Bergstedt, piano
Friday, September 19, 2025 8:00pm
Meng Concert Hall, Cal State Fullerton
Program
Pamela Madsen, “Longing (Tesknota) Song Cycle from In America: Modjeska”
Fredric Rzewski, “Which Side Are You On?” from North American Ballads
Pamela Madsen, “Neried’s Lyre: the Singing of the Waves”
Pamela Madsen, “Proof and Disproof (an opera for one alone)…”
Movement V -VII
Molly Pease, “Recovery Family”
Pauline Oliveros, from “Four Meditations-Approaches and Departures”
About In America: Modjeska
In America: Modjeska for voice and piano focuses on immigration in America. The work follows the complex story of Helena Modjeska, a Polish immigrant and renowned Shakespearean actress who emigrated to the United States in the late 19th century for personal and political reasons. She settled in Southern California to establish the Bohemian artist community "Arden" in what is now Modjeska Canyon, near my home in Laguna Beach.
On Thursday, May 22nd, 2025, at 7:30 PM in the DiMenna Center's Cary Hall, the League of Composers/ISCM presents a concert of innovative and expressive new works featuring premieres by Justin Weiss, Pamela Madsen, Paul Salerni, and Roger Reynolds. The Orchestra of the League of Composers will be conducted by Louis Karchin and David Fulmer.
Thursday | May 22, 2025 | 7:30 pm
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music
Cary Hall
450 West 37th Street
New York, NY
Program
Justin Weiss: through depths and shadows (NY Premiere)
Winner, 2024 League-ISCM Competition for New Works
Pamela Madsen: Melting Away: Gravity (Premiere of the version for Sinfonietta)
featuring Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, mezzo-soprano
Paul Salerni: The Oak and the Reed (NY Premiere)
featuring Domenic Salerni, violin
Roger Reynolds: JOURNEY (U.S. premiere)
featuring Jacqueline Leclair, oboe
Tickets: $25 Advance | $35 Doors | $15 Student/Senior (w/ ID, Senior 65+)
Doors open: 7:00 PM
Here is a preview clip of my opera in-progress entitled Ghosts of Laguna, presented by Opera Laguna.
More info about the performance: https://operalaguna.com/ghostsoflaguna
Oriana Geis-Falla, Soprano
Arnold Livingston Geis, Tenor
Catherine Miller, Piano