Grace Forum Online with Lembit Beecher, Indre Viskontas and Malaak Malikyar Sills: Sophia’s Forest

In February 2022, Opera Parallèle presents the one-act opera, Sophia’s Forest, at Grace Cathedral. It is the story of a young girl who has recently immigrated to the United States, having survived a traumatic journey through the chaos of a civil war in her homeland. With music by Lembit Beecher, Sophia’s Forest is an exploration of both the lasting effects on families of the immigrant experience, and the ways in which children use their imaginations to deal with trauma.  

Composer Lembit Beecher’s music has been praised as “hauntingly lovely and deeply personal,” combining vividly imaginative colors with striking emotional immediacy. Indre Viskontas is a neuroscientist, opera stage director and science communicator across all mediums. Malaak Malikyar Sills is a leader in the Afghan diaspora.

Each year the cathedral chooses a theme for inspiration and reflection, and in 2022 our theme is connection. Join Dean Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Beecher, Viskontas and Sills about the lasting effects on families of the refugee/immigrant experience, the ways in which children use their imaginations to cope with trauma, and how art can help us connect with ourselves and with others.

You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/givetograce.
 
About the Guests
Noted for his collaborative spirit and “ingenious” interdisciplinary projects (The Wall Street Journal), Lembit Beecher is currently the composer-in-residence of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, having previously served a three-year term as the inaugural composer-in-residence of Opera Philadelphia. Recent premieres include Sky on Swings, a chamber opera for Opera Philadelphia starring Frederica von Stade and Marietta Simpson, which was nominated for Best World Premiere at the 2019 International Opera Awards. Many of his latest projects involve the incorporation of untraditional elements into opera, symphonic works and chamber music, including baroque instruments, sampled interviews, animation, and technology.

Malaak Malikyar Sills is a leader in the Afghan diaspora. She works to make visible and connect ideas, people and initiatives towards a common purpose. She does this through her role as a trustee of the Sills Family Foundation, where she works with refugee and immigrant communities, survivors of human trafficking, families affected by incarceration and environmental advocates. She further serves as an advisor on the Welcome.US fund and Board Chair of Refugee and Immigrant Transitions, where she previously worked as Afghan Community Senior Advisor. Her prior work at the International Rescue Committee, coupled with her lived experience, inform her understanding of the systemic barriers newcomers face. As a result, Malaak works on advancing deep engagement and solidarity work with refugee communities. She continues to serve as a volunteer case manager for newcomer Afghans.

Indre Viskontas is a neuroscientist, opera stage director and science communicator across all mediums. Combining a passion for music with scientific curiosity, she is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco where she runs The Creative Brain Lab, and the Creative Director of Pasadena Opera. She leads the Communications Core at the Sound Health Network, promoting research and public awareness of the impact music can have on our health and well-being. She directed Kat’a Kabanova at the California Shakespeare Theater for West Edge Opera in the summer of 2021.

About the Moderator
The Very Rev. Malcolm Clemens Young, ThD,  is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.  

About  The  Forum 
The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.  gracecathedral.org/forum.