music by Carlos Carrillo
libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann

commissioned by Chicago Opera Theater
concert premiere: April 2025

A searing magic-realist fable set in a world devoid of color and inspired by the imagery of surrealist painter Remedios Varo, in which a lone tree holds within its rings the memory and possibility of music, poetry, and art, an herbalist struggles to heal a community afflicted by a siege of maladies, and a homesick boarding-school student dreams of escape.

duration: 90 minutes
vocal forces: 6
orchestra: 7

libretto available on request