PROGRAM NOTES

The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs swirls together many key musical elements of my opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which was premiered by Santa Fe Opera in 2017 and is currently in its second production with Atlanta, Austin, and Kansas City Opera in 2022 and Calgary Opera and Utah in 2023. This lively symphonic work stays true to the kinetic surface of the opera, which uses an electro-acoustic soundworld to conjure the excitement of the early Information Age.  Instead using an ‘opera suite’ form which presents themes separately, I opted for a rhapsodic approach that interweaves them – a kind of free remix that required considerable new material.

The anchoring theme is from the opening number ‘One Device,’ in which Steve Jobs mesmerizes the audience with the presentation of the first iPhone.  This short motif is presented obsessively while a bustle of instruments accumulate around it, propelling us into the Overture of the opera.  Between rondo-like reprises of the opening motif, we hear cameos of ‘Ma Bell’ (a swinging duet between Jobs and Steve Wozniak) and ‘Look Up, Look Out’ (Lauren Powell Jobs’ closing aria, which implores the audience to connect beyond devices).  The coda brings us back to the opening product launch with a pulsing build of material that, like the cult-like following of Jobs himself, is both exuberant and frenetic.

Conversations with the Philadelphia Orchestra