PRESS

 

In Review: SWELL  HERE, NY National Sawdust Log 7.14.19

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THE LIFE AND DEATH(S) OF ALAN TURING

"Chen delivered a fascinating score, particularly in the choral writing, which is arguably the work's glory... through a variety of vocal effects deftly creates the aural evocation of a digital world." Opera News, 6/2023

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"... runaway success....Chen’s potent score flings the drama aloft with an appealingly broad expressive palette. She places a special emphasis on extended techniques: string players bow on the side of their instruments and wind players breathe tonelessly through their instruments; choristers drum their fingers on their music folders to mimic the muted sound of rain. Chen’s vocal writing likewise brims with inventive word-painting: The words “chat,” “chit,” and variations thereof recur in choral interludes throughout the opera, their crackling consonance echoing the clicking sounds of Turing’s code-breaking machines." Musical America 3/ 2023

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"...revelatory... terrific... inventive" Chicago Reader

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"Silence—feeling as long as five seconds—seemed to underline that we in the audience were now a part of opera history." PictureThisPost

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"When was the last time a performance of any kind gave you cold chills? ... the visceral and literal sort of chills that lets you know something inside you has been moved? That was how I felt at last night’s performance of InsightALT: The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing " TheTuxedoRevolt

 

"...Vibrant... remarkable... gorgeous...masterful." BWW Opera

 

"...elliptical and poignant... A chess game scene between Turing and his fiancee portrayed the tragically painful and farcically awkward breaking-up of a relationship with uncomfortable accuracy..." en.paperblog.com

 

"Chen has a real knack for encapsulating sense of place through sound....Chen embodies the echoes heard as one speaking resounds in the lofted hallways and rafters of the church sanctuary... a sense of place...depth, nuance and dimension – a 3-D sound effect if you will... a tremendously fun effect." operapulse

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JEANNE

"... lyrical, atmospheric...striking. Throughout, Ms. Chen balances despair and humor." The New York Times

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"...inventive, powerful, and distinctly personal, with vocal writing distinguished by its sure-handed maturity and lyrical sweep...Its ethereal beauty and demanding virtuosity built to a climax of supplicating ululations, and was deeply affecting." urbanmodernblogspot.com

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"... gripping... dark, complex... striking... wrenching." feastofmusic.com

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