Chen and I wanted to honor him as the genius, war hero, and gay man that he was, who broke the Nazi Enigma code, helped save the world, and opened the door to the future in which we now live. Ten years ago, when very few people had even heard of Alan Turing, composer Justine F. Chicago has my heart and deepest gratitude. We were fortunate to have our orchestral reading – an invaluable asset in the development of such an ambitious opera - here with the good people of COT. I am so grateful to COT and Maestro Lidiya Yankovskaya whose impeccable musicianship, profound intelligence, and consummate artistry has aided our Turing journey since 2015. I thank David Simpatico, Cori Ellison, Mark Adamo, American Lyric Theater, Lawrence Edelson, Steve Weiner, Bhaskaran Swaminathan, Donald Nally, and my family (present and departed) for their unflagging support. Another sonic influence was Walt Disney’s fantastical Snow White, one of Alan’s greatest obsessions. The aural depiction of these "chat clouds" was inspired by the animated movies and television series of Masamune Shirow's cyberpunk manga Ghost in the Shell. We usher our listeners through these memories with interludes that we call “chat clouds.” These “chat clouds” transport the listeners with a sonic approximation of internet chatter, filled with information that brings them to the next moment. This opera presents Alan at seven different moments in life. I thought it was most important to depict institutional discrimination, and the people of his society who were trying their best. For me- a Taiwanese-American female composer, this opera paints a portrait of discrimination. In addition to his important story, Alan’s life had a perfect medium: David’s warm wit and deep humanity maneuver these urgent, weighty topics with a delicate touch. David’s description showed Turing as a legend and tragic figure– the father of computer science, and a war hero chemically castrated by his own country for his sexual orientation, then … a heartbreaking suicide. In 2012 when librettist David Simpatico and I began working on this opera, our hero Alan Turing was unknown to me.
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