Music: Opera/Music Theater

Program note:

I wrote The Carbon Copy Buildingin collaboration with composers Julia Wolfe and David Lang and the comic-book artist Ben Katchor. The piece was commissioned by Enzo Restagno and the Settembre Musica Festival in Turino, Italy. Enzo asked Julia, David and me to each write one act of a three-act opera. We decided instead to write a piece with many scenes and intermingle our music.

The Carbon Copy Buildinghas 15 scenes. We wanted to create a different type of music-theater piece, so we conceived with Ben Katchor the idea of a comic-book opera, where the set would be made up of Ben's drawings and the singers appeared in the scenes as the characters depicted in the comics. The Carbon Copy Building tells the tale of two identical buildings that were built in dramatically different neighborhoods of the same town.
––Michael Gordon

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Review
The Carbon Copy Building is a dynamic and visually stunning trip through the gritty underside of urban life. Words and drawings by celebrated New Yorker comic-strip artist and recent MacArthur Grant recipient Ben Katchor are brought vividly to life by music from Bang on a Can Co-Artistic Directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe.

Rock band meets opera, The Carbon Copy Building is a full-length work for four singers and winds, keys, guitar, and drums; and is the first major collaborative work from the Bang on a Can Co-Artistic Directors. The revolutionary show won the Village Voice 2000 OBIE Award for Best New American Work, and embraces the dark, witty humor of Katchor, known for his cult classic underground comic, Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer. After many years, the work is finally out on CD, accompanied by Katchor's beautiful illustrated libretto; in a limited edition hard-bound Book+CD case.

''The Carbon Copy Building'' is made to be read as much as heard... [the music is] translucent and unhurried, it allows the audience to linger and contemplate Mr. Katchor's urban otherworld.''

—The New York Times