Today, June 28, is the anniversary of the Stonewall Inn uprising in NYC that launched the gay rights movement in 1969. On this day in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage is a constitutional right. So today we celebrate and salute all of the LGBTQ members of the Voices of Ascension staff, board, ensemble, and audience! One of our board members, Wende Persons, wrote the libretto for what is considered the first lesbian opera, Patience & Sarah, with music by Paula Kimper, which premiered at Lincoln Center Festival in 1998. Based on the novel by Isabel Miller and inspired by the life of American folk artist Marianne Willson, Patience & Sarah is the story of two early 19th-century women who left their homes and defied the conventions of their time to make a life together. In the Act II duet, Patience sings, “I want to paint a place where we belong.”

Excerpt: “I Want To Live” from Patience & Sarah

Music: Paula Kimper
Libretto: Wende Persons

Patience: Lori Phillips
Sarah: Elaine Valby
Conductor: Steven Osgood

From the CRI Recording – Lesbian American Composers