''The Source'' is an oratorio by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

composer Ted Hearne, with libretto by

Mark Doten Mark Doten is an American novelist and librettist. He is the author of two novels, ''The Infernal'' and ''Trump Sky Alpha'', both published by Graywolf Press, and he has been a librettist for the Los Angeles Opera and the San Francisco Opera. '' ...

. The work concerns the

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

disclosures of United States Army soldier

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning; December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage A ...

. The libretto for ''The Source'' is drawn from document disclosures as well as instant messages and interviews, including messages sent from Manning to former hacker

Adrian Lamo Adrián Alfonso Lamo Atwood (February 20, 1981 – March 14, 2018) was an American threat analyst and hacker. Lamo first gained media attention for breaking into several high-profile computer networks, including those of ''The New York Times'', ...

. The piece features four singers embedded in the audience, a seven-piece

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

, and four video screens. The voices of the singers are at times electronically modified with

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

. The video screens show the faces of people looking at something, which is revealed at the end to be footage from the "Collateral Murder" video of the July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike, in which civilians were killed. ''The Source'' was commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, who also produced the work's premiere at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

in October 2014, directed by

Daniel Fish Daniel Fish is an American theater director based in New York City. Early career Daniel Fish graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in performance studies. From 1989 to 1993 he worked as the assistant director to Michael Kahn at the Sha ...

. '' The New York Times'' listed the work as one of the best classical vocal performances of 2014. According to the composer, Chelsea Manning has heard the piece (played for her over the phone by her supporters while she was imprisoned), and liked it. The

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...

staged the West Coast premiere of ''The Source'' in October 2016. The West Coast tour continued with a run at the San Francisco Opera beginning in February 2017.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Source, The 2014 compositions Cultural depictions of WikiLeaks Oratorios Works about whistleblowing