User:Funcrunch/The Source (oratorio) draft

The Source is an oratorio composed by Ted Hearne, with libretto by Mark Doten. The work concerns the WikiLeaks disclosures of Chelsea Manning.

The libretto for The Source is drawn from document disclosures as well as instant messages and interviews. The piece features four singers embedded in the audience, a seven-piece ensemble, and four video screens. The video screens show faces of people looking at something, which is revealed at the end to be footage from the July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike, in which civilians were killed.

The Source premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in October 2014. The New York Times listed the work as one of the best classical vocal performances of 2014. According to the composer, Chelsea Manning has heard the piece (played for her over the phone by her supporters), and liked it.

The Los Angeles Opera staged the west coast premiere of The Source in October 2016. The west coast tour continued with a run at the San Francisco Opera in 2017.