Allen Shearer about 'A Very Large Mole'

I am very pleased that my one-act opera A Very Large Mole will be performed fully staged on the opening concert of the Composers, Inc. series Oct. 19. This piece was written in 2009 in collaboration with Claudia Stevens, who based her libretto on a little-known Kafka short story. Briefly, A village schoolmaster claims to have discovered a gigantic mole in his remote district and has contrived to write a pamphlet about it. His literary efforts are ridiculed by a local journalist, and a professor respected as an expert on moles scoffs at his pretensions to scholarship. Thus a questionable occurrence results in a turf war of a type familiar in academic circles. Occasional brief arias alternate with declamatory vocal writing. It is scored for three singers, all male (unusual in opera) and five instruments chosen to reflect the humor in the text: flute, oboe, bassoon, piano, and double bass. A Very Large Mole lasts about 25 minutes. –Allen Shearer