A world premiere will take place in Encinitas when the North Coast Symphony Orchestra performs the premiere of the fully orchestrated version of Del Mar composer Jordan Kuspa’s 17-minute opera “A Long Trip.” The premiere performance will take place on Saturday, May 17 at 2:30 p.m. at the San Diego United Methodist Church in Encinitas, according to a news release.
This work, commissioned by the Boston Opera Collective, was first performed with a piano trio in 2022, but this has now been rescored for full orchestra. It is this brand new version that the orchestra will perform, under the baton of Kuspa.
“I could always imagine this story having a richer backdrop of orchestral color,” said Kuspa in the news release. “Working with the North Coast Symphony has given me an incredible opportunity to bring that depth and color to life—to make moments between the characters brighter, more dramatic, and, by the end of the piece, even more tender and heartfelt.”
“A Long Trip” is based on one of the most popular short plays in America, with playwright Dan McGeehan turning his work into the libretto for this opera. It tells the touching story of an elderly man trying to reconnect with his wife before he loses her to dementia, by reminding her of how they met. He succeeds in reaching that moment of clarity for them both, as they their younger selves (also represented on stage) and share a lucid moment that may be their last. It is a work filled with tenderness and love, as well as joy and comedy as we visit with the younger couple at a dance and see them stealing their first kiss.
North Coast Symphony Board President Bill Gilmer said in the news release, “It is very exciting to present this new version of Jordan Kuspa’s ‘A Long Trip.’ We especially are pleased to be able to work with the composer to realize his musical vision. This piece is filled with melody and emotion, and the orchestra looks forward to introducing this music to our audience.”
In addition to the opera, the soloists will perform a selection of arias, and the orchestra will perform the overtures for Verdi’s Nabucco and Wagner’s Meistersinger. Tickets are $18 (general) and $15 (senior/military/college), free for 18 and under, and available on the orchestra website at northcoastsymphony.com
About Jordan Kuspa:
Kuspa has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a composer, cellist, arts entrepreneur, and music educator. His compositions have been praised in the New York Times as “consistently alive and inspired,” and have been performed across North America, Europe, and Asia. Kuspa’s works include three string quartets, a violin concerto, and a ballet based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death.
In 2023, Kuspa’s The Mystery of the Missing Music, an educational whodunit for actors and orchestra, was performed by the New England Philharmonic and his recent chamber opera, A Long Trip, was celebrated in the Boston Musical Intelligencer: “A more profound, riveting, and wrenching quarter of an hour cannot be imagined. Real verismo opera this.” To learn more about Kuspa’s compositions, visit jordankuspa.net.
Kuspa is the founder and director of the Del Mar International Composers Symposium (delmarcomposers.org). Now preparing for its sixth season in 2025, DMICS brings world-class musicians to Del Mar every August to share new musical ideas between composers, performers, and the community. Kuspa currently performs with the La Jolla Symphony and works in the wine industry as a consultant for Winebow. Kuspa earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music and also studied at Rice University. He also conducts the North Coast Symphony for their 2024-25 season, the news release stated.
