Costume Designer

Depicting the wide web of trauma left in the wake of a school shooting, the late, great Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s final opera is a raw and unflinching cri de coeur in response to the senseless violence of our modern age. Captivating with its eerie, darkly beautiful sound-world and diverse vocal styles, ranging from traditional opera to expressionistic speak-singing to Scandinavian folk music, Innocence, with libretto by prominent Finnish author Sofi Oksanen, was greeted upon its 2021 premiere by awestruck reviews and hailed as “completely exhilarating” (The New York Times), “a modern masterpiece” (The Telegraph). For its Met premiere—in Simon Stone’s powerfully direct original production—the cast is anchored by mezzo- soprano Joyce DiDonato and Finnish ethno-pop singer Vilma Jää as a grieving mother and the daughter she lost in the shooting, as well as soprano Jacquelyn Stucker and tenor Miles Mykkanen as a young couple whose wedding, a decade after the tragedy, uncovers buried secrets and reopens old wounds. Maestro Susanna Mälkki, a close friend and collaborator of Saariaho’s, conducts what she calls “one of the most important works of our time.”

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Innocence

Lincoln Center

A joyous wedding celebration takes a shocking turn when the darkest of family secrets is revealed and a young bride has an impossible decision to make.
Acclaimed by the The New York Times as a “masterpiece,” Innocence takes us to the limits of a family’s ability to deal with tragedy. In a gripping one-act drama, Kaija Saariaho and Sofi Oksanen unfold a harrowing story of emotional shock and surprise in which our understanding of innocence and guilt is continually upended.
Premiered in Aix-en-Provence in 2021 and making its American premiere in San Francisco, Innocence makes clear the power of the opera stage to tell emotive stories impossible in any other art form. Saariaho specialist Clément Mao-Takacs leads an international cast of singers and actors in this towering work performed in multiple languages.

War Memorial Opera House

What circumstances could push a mother to commit infanticide? The story of Medea has fascinated artists for centuries, including opera creators. The libretto of Luigi Cherubini's work, performed in Paris in 1797, condenses a story known from mythology. The beginnings of the relationship between Jason and Medea, the golden fleece and the Argonauts are only mentioned in it. We are thrown into the middle of a love conflict: Dircé, filled with anxiety, is preparing to marry Jason, who has abandoned his former lover for her. The celebration is interrupted by Medea trying to get her husband and children back. The rejected woman, deprived of all hope, plans revenge - she offers Dircé a crown and a dress soaked in poison, and she herself murders her sons.

Costume Designer

Mel Page

Events

Past events

6 - 29 Apr, 2025

Innocence · The Metropolitan Opera

1 - 21 Jun, 2024

Innocence · San Francisco Opera

About

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