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Alva
Henderson
Biographical
Information
Alva
Henderson entered San Francisco State College as a Drama major
but after several years changed to a major in Composition
with voice as his principal instrument. He studied composition
with Wayne Peterson (SF State) and Robert Sheldon (SF Conservatory).
Before leaving the college in 1966 to pursue a career in music,
he presented a complete recital of original works.
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During
the following four years he completed his first opera, Medea,
while supporting himself by singing in the San Francisco Opera Chorus.
The 1972 production of Medea by the San Diego Opera, with Metropolitan
Opera star Irene Dalis in the title role, brought him to national
attention. Reviewing Medea in the Los Angeles Times, Martin
Bernheimer wrote:
"Henderson
is, clearly, an extraordinary talent, a strategist who can cope
with sprawling forms, a musician with an obvious flair for the
theatrical."
A
commission from Opera Delaware to create an opera for the American
Bicentennial and for the gala reopening of the restored Grand Opera
House in Wilmington followed, and The Last of the Mohicans
was premiered there in 1976. The opera received national coverage.
Robert Jacobson wrote in Opera News:
"Henderson
obviously has an exultant talent for opera. . . . His instincts
come right from the heart in creating arias, duets, and ensemble
with a pulsing sense of melody and stirring emotional commitment.
Cora's dramatic farewell forms the basis of a richly layered,
thrilling outburst with principals and chorus."
The
following year The Last of the Mohicans was produced by the
Lake George Opera Festival and broadcast throughout the country
on National Public Radio.
Among
his other compositions are: the operas West of Washington Square
(premiered by Opera San Jose in 1988), Achilles, and The
Tempest; the cantata The Ancient Ones (premiered by the
Schola Cantorum in 1983); and most recently, a dramatic musical,
Far From the Madding Crowd. He has recently collaborated
with Dana Gioia on an opera based on the great Murnau silent film
Nosferatu. Mr. Henderson has
written many songs, songs cycles, and choruses, as well as incidental
music for Twelfth Night, The House of Bernarda Alba,
and Much Ado About Nothing.
Recitals
of his music have been performed at the Kaiser Center in Oakland,
California, Conservatory of Music in Burlingame, California, The
San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The Renee Weiler Concert Hall
in New York City, and Mercer University, Macon, Georgia.
In
June of 1998 Mr. Henderson was composer in residence at the Western
Slope Summer Music Festival. An hour of excerpts from the opera
Nosferatu was performed
(with full orchestra conducted by Imre Pallo) to great acclaim.
The final duet from Nosferatu
was featured at the Derriere Guard Arts Festival in San Francisco
in the fall of 1999. Mr. Henderson has been a Fellow at Yaddo and
The Djerassi Foundation and Distinguished Artist in Residence at
San Jose State University. He makes his home in Mountain View, California,
with his spouse, Bear Capron.
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