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Biography
Koch's plays provided occasions for collaborations with artists. Alex Katz created the costumes and wooden silhouettes of men, women, and horses to represent the British and American forces for George Washington Crossing the Delaware. Among other plays that have been staged off- and off-off-Broadway, The Red Robins had celebrated productions with sets by Roy Lichtenstein, Jane Freilicher, Red Grooms, Alex Katz, Katherine Koch, Rory McEwen, and Vanessa James. The Construction of Boston was first performed as a collaborative play starring the three artists involved—Robert Rauschenberg bringing weather to Boston through a rain machine he constructed; Niki de Saint Phalle bringing art by shooting a plaster Venus de Milo statue with a rifle so it “bled” paint of different colors; and Jean Tingley bringing architecture by constructing a seven-foot wall on the stage. The production was directed by Merce Cunningham. This play became another collaboration when Scott Wheeler turned it into an opera.
Opera was one of Koch's favorite art forms. He said he thought the perfect job for him would be as a court librettist responsible for creating at least three opera libretti a year. Some of Koch's other plays were set as operas, such as The Gold Standard (also set by Wheeler) and Départ Malgache set by Roger Trefousse. In addition, Koch wrote libretti for particular composers to set: Bertha for Ned Rorem, A Change of Hearts for David Hollister, and two for music by Koch's Italian friend Marcello Panni, The Banquet: Talking about Love and Garibaldi en Sicile.
In addition to opera, individual songs were created from his poems or poem cycles. Virgil Thomson set Collected Poems, a series of 39 one-line poems that Thomson later arranged for vocal duet and chamber orchestra, and four poems under Thomson's title Mostly about Love. Ned Rorem set those same four poems and many other poems by Koch, including To the Unknown. Other song collaborations include William Bolcom's setting of Koch's To My Old Addresses and two song cycles by Mason Bates, In Bed and Songs from the Plays.
There are no productions for this artist in the Season Schedule of Performances which currently only dates back to 1991.
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Artist Information
All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below. Title Information Form Artist Information Form
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