Black body
His evening-length oratorio "Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)" includes libretto by Korde Arrington Tuttle and poems by Patti Smith and Essex Hemphill, featuring vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, soprano Alicia Hall Moran, tenor Isaiah Thomas and dancer/choreographer Martell Ruffin, and combining 16th century madrigals, blues and post-modern musical influences. Produced by ArKtype and directed by Kaneza Schaal, the work was realized in partnership with The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and explored the work of the photographer through the lens of its African-American subjects via Tuttle's deeply personal view of the contradictions and inherent racism within the artist's adoration and deification of the Black body, often eluding its humanism. It premiered as a concert version conducted by Sara Jobin with co-commissioner LA Philharmonic at Disney Hall in Los Angeles on March 5, 2019, followed by the full theatrical world premiere with co-commissioner and lead producing partner University Musical Society at the Power Center of Ann Arbor, on March 14, 2019. "Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)" was Dessner's first major theatrical work, and among the only rights granted for use of Mapplethorpe's images in performance. San Francisco Chronicle called it “a daring and unique musical spectacle…Dessner’s most arresting and provocative work to date," while artseen hailed the piece as a "radical new work", and The New York Times called it “Witty and wicked…forbidding and seductive." Additional co-commissioners included the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Holland Festival, Luminato Festival, Toronto; Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center as part of the Nostos Festival, Athens, Greece; Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati, OH; Stanford Live, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; Adelaide Festival, Australia; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for performance as part of DirectCurrent 2019; ArtsEmerson: World on Stage, Cal Performances, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; Texas Performing Arts, University of Texas at Austin; Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; the Momentary, Bentonville, AR, Celebrity Series, Boston, MA; and developed in residency with MassMOCA, North Adams, MA;