Tati

the kennedy center (2025)
kaufman music center (2025)

2025
25 minutes
Commissioned by Washington National Orchestra’s American Opera Initiative at the Kennedy Center, Tati premiered January 18th, 2025 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

 Three people are stranded inside a massive, dying, bio-engineered whale named Tati: Maysoon, Osvaldo, and Connie. A project of Connie's failed environmental fund, Tati the whale has become an unlikely home.

Maysoon is nine months pregnant and due to give birth any minute. When Osvaldo finally spots a boat through Tati’s blowhole, they all have the chance to escape. But is it better for Maysoon to give birth into the confinement of Connie's "miracle whale," or risk the outside world, full of both danger and possibility?

composed by kyle brenn
libretto by lex brown

american opera initiative >