Fourth Wall debuts 'Vassal of the Sun' Wednesday at Green Center

The Fourth Wall ensemble will present "Vassal of the Sun," based on Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Green Center's Thompson Recital Hall. (Courtesy photo)

It's not every music ensemble that earns praise for its "deft choreography" in The Wall Street Journal. The Fourth Wall is no ordinary ensemble. Part new music group, part circus troupe, the trio commissions new interdisciplinary works and reinterprets established repertoire to make music that literally leaps off the stage.

For its DePauw debut at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 2 in the Green Center's Thompson Recital Hall, the hybrid arts ensemble will present a preview of the daring new chamber opera "Vassal of the Sun" with guest soprano Elisabeth Halliday.

Incorporating text from "Moby Dick," sea chantey melody, dance and acrobatics, Stefanie Lubowski's "Vassal of the Sun" explores themes of mortality, striving and loss central to Herman Melville's novel.

Throughout the piece, the musicians manipulate custom-made stage elements that recall the presence of waves, the hull of a ship, the ribs of a whale and lend an undulating visual counterpoint to the flow of the music, evoking the watery and ethereal realms depicted in Melville's prose.

Since its founding in 2010, The Fourth Wall has been inspiring and delighting audiences across the country with its unique style of hybrid arts performances, evolving it into an elegant balance of music, text and physical storytelling that engages audiences in unexpected ways.

"Their musicianship would be impressive if they just stood still and stared at their music stands, and their acrobatics would impress if they never saw an instrument, but together they make stage magic," wrote Carl F. Gauze for Archikulture Digest.

As winners of the 2014 Savvy Musician in Action chamber music competition, The Fourth Wall was featured as performers and workshop leaders for that innovative music entrepreneurship retreat. In 2013, the group traveled to Alaska to be ensemble-in-residence for the University of Alaska, Fairbanks New Music Festival.

Outside the realm of classical music venues, the ensemble has been spreading contemporary chamber music to new audiences at Fringe Theatre Festivals in Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Orlando, where they received Patrons' Pick and Critics' Choice awards for their vaudeville-inspired show "Fruit Flies Like a Banana."

General admission to Wednesday's The Fourth Wall performance is $5. Tickets for seniors, youth and all students are free.

For online purchases, visit the DePauw School of Music's website at www.music.depauw.edu. The venue's box office will also be open one hour prior to the performance.