Saturday night, March 8, the debut of the suffragist opera “Forward Into Light,” composed by our pianist, Stephen Variames, debuted here at St. John’s. The sanctuary was packed and the performance was professional and amazing.

First, attendees heard from Dr. Kimberly Hamlin, the Chamberlin Family Professor and chair of history at Miami University, and board member of the League of Women Voters of the United States, whose research areas include women’s voting history. Librettist Kathleen Stakenas greeted the crowd by video, as she was out of state.

Stephen’s beautiful composition and piano performance were perfectly matched with the stunning voices of Sydney Sorbet as Alice Paul, Kaylee Nichols as Hannah, Christina Kerstan as Lottie and Rachel Kopernick as Nurse. St. John’s choristers Amy Martin, Sylvie Martin, Genie McAlister, Kathy Rentz and Mary Lynne Schuster joined in the finale.

St. John’s music endowment fund made the night possible. The League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area co-sponsored the event, hosting a reception afterward, with voter information and more. Kathy Rentz, Claire Wagner and Stephen supplied appetizers and sweets. Claire, Nancy Greenlee, the League and Stephen publicized the event in numerous venues.

Monica Pellman and Claire ran the slides for the evening and recorded it.

If you’d like to see and hear a recording of “Forward Into Light,” find it on our YouTube Channel.  A couple of video spots stuck early, but the audio is great and once it’s rolling, the video is good, too.  You can read along with this link to the libretto.

Kudos to Stephen!

Thanks to all you participated and who attended.