The University of Minnesota School of Music’s University Opera Theatre’s production of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein’s Parables will broadcast on Twin Cities Public Television on Sunday, October 28 at 8 p.m. It will also air on Sunday, November 4 at 8 a.m., and 2 p.m. on TPT-MN and at noon on TPT-Life.

University Opera Theatre (UOT) presented the stage premiere of Parables, a new dramatic cantata and American choral work by the Grammy Award winning team of composer Robert Aldridge and librettist Herschel Garfein in April 2012 at Ted Mann Concert Hall. Parables is a powerful artistic response to racial and religious intolerance around the globe. Each of the work’s seven sections tells a unique story, or parable, featuring the intertwining of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It had been performed twice previously, on the East Coast, purely as concerts. Unconventional staging and the inclusion of four languages – English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek – contribute to the distinctiveness of UOT’s production.

Parables was directed by School of Music professor and UOT director David Walsh and conducted by School of Music professor and director of choral activities Kathy Saltzman Romey. Walsh describes Parables as UOT’s largest undertaking ever, with 200 performers on stage featuring the University Orchestra, University Singers, and Men’s and Women’s Choruses. Parables is performed by a professional cast, consisting of School of Music faculty members Adriana Zabala (mezzo soprano) and Philip Zawisza (baritone) joined by Monica Yunus (soprano) and Dennis Peterson (tenor).

The video above was produced by University Opera Theatre in advance of its premiere.