27 feb – BOZAR
I went to see this project my choir did that I didn’t take part in as it was only for the girls in the choir. Fire in My Mouth is semi-staged oratorio by Julia Wolfe.
On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist garment factory in New York. The workers—mostly Jewish and Italian immigrant women and girls, aged 14 to 23—were unable to escape the flames: the factory doors had been locked to prevent them from taking unscheduled breaks.
In the piece, Wolfe gives a voice to the 146 victims of the fire. Drawing from traditional Yiddish and Italian melodies, as well as firsthand survivor testimonies, Fire in my mouth reclaims this historic tragedy as an act of remembrance. Wolfe’s minimalist style draws together raw emotion and a stark evocation of the factory and the fire, creating a haunting but beautiful experience (I cried).
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