Palo Seco (Chamber Opera)

Palo Seco was developed as an entry for the Original Vision opera workshop with librettist Jessica Figueroa. We were selected to participate in the 2022 workshop, and the piece premiered on May 15 in Los Angeles, CA at the Frida Kahlo Theatre.

Program Note

The scene takes place during the Yaqui Wars, a little-known campaign of enslavement and genocide perpetrated by the Mexican government against the Yaqui tribe. A father and son return to their ranch from a cattle sale at the village. They have been swindled, abused, and robbed by the Mexican villagers, escaping with only the few silver coins hidden in their false boot heels.

Exhaustion forces them to make camp under a mesquite tree with a dark history. Two owls alight on a branch overhead. As the father and son discuss their hardships, the owls begin their own conversation over the fate of the family. Initially welcoming the owls, the father and son soon realize that they are no longer safe in their ancestral lands.

Media

Father
The last mesquite tree in the desert
Can you still sing, Palo Seco?
Soldiers came and we drew a line
The priests came and we drew the cross
Palo Seco said it would be, and it was.
The first child lay under the last tree
Bathed in ash, now the spirits sleep.

Son
Papá, who was the first child?

Father
No stories tonight, sleep.
We will be home tomorrow.

Credits

Father – Jonathan Byram
Son – David Saldaña
Owl 1 – Molly Pease
Owl 2 – Chloe Vaught

Ensemble – Brightwork New Music

Director – O-Lan Jones
Music Director – Fahad Siadat