Another Sunrise and Before It All Goes Dark Two one-act operas of hope, identity, memory, and resilience

Experience two intimate operas by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer that illuminate extraordinary true stories shaped by the Holocaust. Presented together, Another Sunrise and Before It All Goes Dark explore the power of art to preserve memory. Tickets here.

The Creative Team

Composer: Jake Heggie One of today’s leading composers of opera and art song, Jake Heggie is best known for Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick, and Three Decembers. His opera Intelligence received the 2026 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Heggie writes his music by hand, valuing a physical connection to the score, and serves as the Diane B. Wilsey Distinguished Professor of Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Librettist: Gene Scheer Grammy Award-winning librettist Gene Scheer is celebrated for emotionally resonant storytelling and longstanding collaborations with Heggie, including Moby-Dick, Three Decembers, and Intelligence. His other libretti include Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain, Joby Talbot’s Everest, and Mason Bates’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Scheer is also a composer and songwriter whose American Anthem was featured in many Presidential Inaugurations.

Journalist: Howard Reich Emmy Award-winning journalist, author, filmmaker, and librettist Howard Reich is recognized for his 43-year career with the Chicago Tribune. He has written seven books including biographies of Van Cliburn and Jelly Roll Morton. Reich has dedicated his life to documenting cultural history, the impact of jazz, and the enduring legacy of Holocaust survivors.

About the Operas

Another Sunrise

Based on Krystyna Żywulska’s 1946 memoir I Survived Auschwitz, this one-act opera centers on a survivor attempting to record her memories after the war. Żywulska escaped the Warsaw ghetto, joined the Polish resistance, and was later imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where her poems and songs of protest and survival circulated among fellow prisoners. The opera explores identity, resistance, trauma, and the necessity of bearing witness.

Featured artist: Soprano Jodi Burns portrays Krystyna Żywulska.

Before It All Goes Dark

Based on journalist Howard Reich’s reporting, this one-act opera tells the true story of Gerald “Mac” McDonald, an ailing Vietnam War veteran who learns that he is the sole heir to a valuable art collection looted by the Nazis. A journey to Prague in search of the collection uncovers a Jewish heritage that had been hidden from him and prompts a deeper reckoning with identity, belonging, and the transformative power of art.

Featured artists: Baritone Keith Phares and mezzo-soprano Katherine Pracht, both professors at Bowling Green State University, lead the cast.

Related Events and Community Engagement

Violins of Hope

In the Hanesbrands Theatre lobby, the Winston-Salem Symphony will display selected instruments from Violins of Hope, a collection of restored string instruments connected to Jewish musicians and the Holocaust. A Winston-Salem Symphony musician will perform on one of these instruments at each opera performance.

Wake Forest University Special Collections and Archives

Also in the Hanesbrands Theatre lobby, Wake Forest Special Collections and Archives will display rare artifacts from the time period.

Conversations and Performances

• Woman in Gold screening at a/perture cinema—November 7 at 1:00pm Tickets here.

• An Evening with Gene Scheer, Special Collections and Archives, Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Room 625—November 13 at 6:30pm FREE. This is a discussion with America’s leading librettist and composer.

• Q&A with Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer at UNCSA — Freedman Theater at UNCSA November 14 at 1:00pm FREE

• The Art Songs of Jake Heggie, Brendle Recital Hall at Wake Forest University — November 16 at 7:30 FREE. This recital features artists from Wake Forest University, UNCSA, Salem College Academy and College, Duke University, Winston-Salem Symphony, and Piedmont Opera. Jake Heggie will be present. NOTE: Joey is really looking forward to this!!

• Viva Verdi! screening at a/perture cinema — November 21 at 1:00pm Enjoy an inspiring documentary that takes audiences inside Casa Verdi, the remarkable retirement home for musicians founded by legendary Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. Through touching personal stories, music, and memories, the film celebrates a lifetime devoted to the arts, the enduring power of music, and the extraordinary lives of aging performers. Tickets.

At Every Performance

• A pre-opera lecture will provide historical and artistic context.

• A post-opera talkback will invite audiences into conversation with members of the creative team and performers.