Rappahannock County

Co-commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia Opera, the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond, and Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, Rapahannock County pairs the outstanding and celebrated talents of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Mark Campbell. Rappahannock County is a theatrical song cycle that captures key emotional, sociological, and historical moments in the Civil War. Much of the text was inspired by actual events and drawn from diaries, letters, and other accounts. The narrative follows the lines of history, from secession in 1861 to defeat in 1865, and is in five parts. Although the story is centered geographically in Virginia, its themes are universal to the Civil War. It is described as such by Wes Blomster of Opera Today: "The piece has the sense of a lens closing in on a spectrum of individuals and their feelings around slavery and morality in a profound and poignant way..." The acclaim accorded Rappahannock County by the 2,200 people who packed Norfolk´s Harrison Opera House for the premiere made clear that Gordon and Campbell had achieved their goal.