White Snake Projects will premiere Oliver’s newest piece The Big Deception (soprano, mezzo, cello, piano) on August 1, 8 and 22. The Big Deception, sets the story of Irene Da Silva and Ivete Souza, as told in their own words. Irene was approved for a United States Green Card and instructed to return to her native Brazil for her final interview. However, upon visiting the American embassy in Rio, Irene was informed that she had overstayed her American visitor’s visa and couldn’t enter the United States for ten years, even though she had already been approved for a green card. At age 79, she was separated from her daughter and grandchildren, alone in Brazil without her family. Irene persevered for ten long years. At age 89 she was able to return to America, reunite with her family. Yet she can never recover that lost decade.

The work is part of White Snake Project’s “Sing Out Strong: Immigrant Voices,” which pairs 10 composers with 10 immigrant authors, to amplify their stories through music. In addition to Oliver’s work, the program includes music by Anais Azul, Michele Cheng, Sheela Ramesh, Shuying Li, Jorge Sosa, Marina Lopez, Avik Sarkar, George Lam and Katherine Pukinskis.

Free admission to all three performances

August 1, 6:00pm
Multicultural Arts Center
41 Second Street
Cambridge, MA
Info

August 8, 6:00pm
Pao Performing Arts Center
99 Albany Street
Boston, MA
Info

August 22, 6:00pm
CitySpace
890 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA
Info