Reckoning Time, A Song of Walt Whitman, a dramatic oratorio for baritone, actor, chorus and orchestra, will return to the stage on Friday, Oct. 25 at 8pm in Kresge Auditorium in a special concert to honor John Oliver, who recently retired from his post as senior lecturer.
Reckoning Time is a four-way collaboration by Professor Peter Child (composer), Associate Provost for the Arts Alan Brody (libretto), Senior Lecturer John Oliver (conductor and originator of the commission) and Lecturer Michael Ouellette (actor). "Inventive and imaginative, the oratorio is a rich, multilayered tapestry of text and music," wrote the Christian Science Monitor following Reckoning Time's March 1995 premiere.
The free performance will feature The John Oliver Chorale and Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Oliver, baritone Christopheren Nomura (as Whitman), and actors Mr. Ouellette (Peter Doyle), Paul Guttry (Whitman's father) and Laurie Otten (Whitman's mother).
In honor of Mr. Oliver, who also served as conductor of the MIT Concert Choir and Chamber Chorus, the concert will be followed by a brief performance by the MIT Chamber Chorus and tributes from students and colleagues at the Mezzanine Lounge in the Stratton Student Center.
The concert is sponsored by Music and Theater Arts with additionl funding from the MIT Council for the Arts Kepes Fund and the Eugene McDermott Fund, the Office of the Associate Provost for the Arts, the Dean of School of Humanities and Social Science, and the Humanities and Social Science Provost Fund. For more information, call x3-2906.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 23, 1996.
