Rising Waters Collective Presents "Songs of Resilience"
Vashon Center for the Arts
Sunday, August 9th
Doors at 6:00pm
Performance at 7:00pm
Rising Waters Collective presents the West Coast Premiere of Sheila Silver’s Songs of Resilience.
Silver's powerful new song cycle gives voice to individuals confronting urgent social, political, and humanitarian crises — a journalist witnessing starvation in South Sudan; a mother discovering banned books in Florida; a Palestinian-American poet; a Turkish Ph.D. student jailed for writing an Op-Ed in her school newspaper; a mother and daughter experiencing the loss of a free society; a rallying cry, "Don't comply in advance!"; and a prayer yearning for a kinder, more loving world, "May we be saved by what we save."
The songs embody a plea for sanity, empathy, healing and renewal, while also speaking to courage, conscience and the weight of moral reckoning. They ultimately leave us with hope, courage, and community.
"Conceived and composed between April 2025 and February 2026, the songs celebrate human ingenuity, kindness and passion in the midst of tyranny, chaos, and cruelty." —Sheila Silver, April 2026
SHEILA SILVER:
Seattle-born Sheila Silver is a distinguished composer of chamber and orchestral music, songs, opera and film scores. Her opera, A Thousand Splendid Suns, based on the international bestselling novel by Khaled Hosseini, was premiered by Seattle Opera in February 2023 and shortlisted for "Best World Premiere" by International Opera Awards, 2023. Her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Sackler Prize in Opera; numerous Opera America and National Endowment for the Arts awards; Bunting Institute Fellowship; Rome Prize; Prix de Paris, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Composer Award and numerous grants and commissions.
THE PERFORMERS:
Songs of Resilience will be performed by sopranos Holly Boaz and Ibidunni Ojikutu, mezzo sopranos Lucy Weber and Julia Benzinger, and pianist Jay Rozendaal.
ABOUT RISING WATERS COLLECTIVE
Rising Waters Collective is a women-led chamber opera company dedicated to creating intimate, immersive works that reflect the Pacific Northwest’s cultural and ecological richness. By uplifting historically excluded voices and collaborating with regional artists, the company stages reimagined classics and new works in unconventional spaces —from iconic cabaret cocktail bars to pop-up storefronts to digital platforms. Its mission: to build a community-powered opera company that speaks to today’s most urgent issues while honoring the genre’s deep traditions.
PERFORMANCE TIMES & TICKETS
The performance begins at 7pm. Duration is approximately 60 minutes, followed by an artist Q&A with the performers and the composer.
AUGUST 9, 7pm (doors open 6pm) Vashon Center for the Arts 19600 Vahson Hwy SW
Tickets & Information: https://givebutter.com/songs-of-resilience-vashon
$35 General Admission
$15 reduced price ticket for anyone facing financial barriers