Opera Vocal Score-'More than anything else Margaret Garner is an opera that reminds us that we all belong to the same human family and it demonstrates what can happen when we forget this fundamental truth... - RichardDanielpour This Opera by Grammy-winning composer Richard Danielpour tells the story of Margaret Garner an enslaved African-American woman in pre-Civil War America who gained notoriety for killing her owndaughter to prevent her from suffering the degradation of a life of slavery. In this adaptation of the famous tale Edward Gaines acquires his deceased brother’s Kentucky estate and pledges to let all of the slave familieson the Maplewood Plantation stay together. However when he takes a special interest in one of the slaves Margaret Garner it is not long before her husband Robert is sent away alone to another plantation. One night Robertsneaks back to Maplewood and attempts to escape with Margaret and their children to the ‘Free State’ of Ohio. They are caught and Margaret murders her children in a crime of passion sparing them from a life of slavery. Margaretis condemned to death and although she is granted clemency at the last minute she chooses the freedom of the gallows over life as a slave. The tragic work features a libretto by Toni Morrison and gained highcritical praise at its first performance in Philadelphia in 2006. Watch a clip from the performance here:

With a libretto written by Judith herself based on the cryptic supernatural short story Der blonde Eckbert by Ludwig Tieck. This one act pocket version of the opera makes use of a Chamber group rather than a fullorchestra and omits the chorus.'Eckbert and his wife Berthe live in seclusion in the Harz Moutains. One stormy night Eckbert's friend Walther arrives and to while away the time Berthe tells him her lifestory.Walther mysteriously knows a great deal about Berthe' s early life and Eckbert's suspicions grow eventually leading him to murder Walther during a hunting expediton.Consumed by terror and suspicion Eckbertretreats into seclusion and revisits the fairy-tale scenes of Berthe's childhood accompanied by a magical singing bird. He encounters the old woman who raised Berthe and at last learns the terrible truth about Walther Berthe and himself.'                 - Judith Weir