November 2008
The Fort Greene Park Conservancy and American Opera Projects present the world premiere on November 15 of Alvin Singleton's Brooklyn Bones, commissioned by the Conservancy with generous support from Partnerships for Parks, a joint program of the City Parks Foundation and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, as well as the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Independence Community Foundation, and Meet the Composer, Inc. Utilizing an original text by Patricia Hampl, the work was written in commemoration of the Fort Greene Park Prison Ship Martyrs Monument and the performance, which features the work in a slightly-reduced orchestration, is conducted by Mark Shapiro at Brooklyn Tech featuring the Monmouth Civic Chorus and Orchestra. The City of New York and Ft. Greene Park Conservancy will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Prison Ships Martyrs Monument, which historian David McCullough has called one of the most sacred Revolutionary War memorial sites in the country. The Stanford White designed monument rises above a tomb containing the remains of more than 11,000 soldiers who died aboard British prison ships in New York’s Wallabout Bay during the American Revolution. The Martyrs Monument and plaza have been meticulously restored, the bronze eagles returned to their original places, and the eternal flame atop the monument will be once again lit on this occasion after being extinguished for 71 years. The City of New York in coordination with the Conservancy has planned a full day of events in Ft. Greene Park and the surrounding area. Singleton comments on the occasion:
“This November, the Fort Greene Park Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Brooklyn turns one hundred years old and my work, Brooklyn Bones for tenor, chorus, and orchestra and based on a wonderful text by poet Patricia Hampl, was created for the centennial celebration and rededication of the Monument Plaza. Brooklyn Bones draws its inspiration from the story of the thousands of American Revolution victims who perished aboard the British prison ships between 1776 and 1783.” [Alvin Singleton's website is http://www.AlvinSingleton.com]
Fort Greene Park
American Opera Projects
Alvin Singleton
Prison Ship Martyrs
Martyrs Monument
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