Choral Artists of Carmel
Composer in Residence
Heather Green
Heather Green is a Wagnerian soprano performing in Europe and the United States. She is a two time recipient of the Mellon Grant for Creative Research and a winner of the LISMA scholarship. Ms. Green is a sought after lyricist and holds degrees from Pratt Institute of Art and Design.
Her composition “Tomorrow Never Knows” was performed by the Hartnell Choir in Carmel and with EMX at Sowieso, Berlin. She performed the “Star Song” with the Choral Artists of Carmel in 2024. January 25, 2026 will be the world premiere of
The Metamorphosis of the Swans
an opera composed by Ms. Green.
Canadian soprano and Monterey Peninsula resident Jody Lee and San Francisco soprano Emily Schuck will be soloists with Ms. Green in “What is Left”. Michael Orlinsky, baritone and dancer will dance in “Swoon.” Peter Lemberg, English horn will accompany two SATB choral pieces. “Wings” a poem by Robin McKee Williams was set for SATB by Ms. Green.
Brief Opera Synopsis for
The Metamorphosis of the Swans
Twilight
The daily interlude of orange and gold.
Day is over, but night has not yet come.
It is a time of longing for what no longer is,
Tinged with hope for that which still could be.
This melancholy finds voice in the imagined call of transient birds,
Resounding over the waves.
The moment of Transformation is near.
“When the sun was under the water,
suddenly the swan’s feathers fell.”
The project in development is inspired by the fairy tale, “The Wild Swans”, by Hans Christian Andersen, in which eleven brothers are turned into swans by their wicked stepmother.
But only during the day.
Every sunset, the swans become human once more, and fall back from the heavens to the earth.
The Metamorphosis of the Swans builds a World of word and sound, living in a moment, when beauty can be a curse, to observe what is lost, what is yet to come, and that, which must remain.