Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI)

MUS10-5b-Tues2  Wagner's Die Walküre, a Guided Tour

Study Group Leader (SGL) - Phillip Radoff

Location:   This course will take place in person at 60 Turner Street. The room will be equipped with a HEPA air purifier.

Tuesday– Course Period 2 – 11:10 am - 12:35 pm

6 week course - October 21 -December 2

(No Class November 25)

Description  Wagner’s Ring Cycle is widely believed to be one of the great works of operatic literature. It consists of four operas (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Die Götterdämmerung).  The second opera of the cycle, Die Walküre, is considered the most popular among opera-goers and contains some of the most memorable music in all of opera, most notably the “Ride of the Valkyries,” which opens the third and final act. 

The story of the opera continues the tale begun in the first Ring opera, Das Rheingold, and presents a fascinating account of the incestuous relationship between the god Wotan’s human offspring and the travails of his favorite divine daughter. The course will include 6 sessions beginning in 5b plus the make-up day.  There will be  presentations of one or more videos of the opera, along with descriptions and commentary by the SGL.

Group Leadership Style More lecture than facilitated discussion.

Course Materials  I expect to use two or three versions of the opera in order to show the variety of settings that opera directors have created and also to feature the singers who I think are most effective for a particular act or scene. I recommend that students have access to a complete recording of the opera—any production will do—and also to the libretto in English translation, since I will discuss the libretto as well as the music. I will provide weekly emails to identify sections of the assigned portion for students to study and will include questions for the students to ponder when watching the performance as well as supplemental reading material. The Minuteman Library Network has a number of recordings that can be borrowed. Complete performances are also available on YouTube and librettos can be found on the internet at no cost. Recordings and librettos can also be purchased from the usual internet vendors at relatively modest cost.

Preparation Time Approximately two hours a week.

Biography  Phillip Radoff has undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics as well as a law degree. For most of his professional career he was a practicing lawyer. He has had a lifelong interest in classical music and opera in particular.

Study Group Leader (SGL) -   Laura Stanfield Prichard

Location:  This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation in this course requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email.

Monday– Course Period 2 – 11:10 am - 12:35 pm

5 week course - October 20  - November 17

Description  Join New York Philharmonic Dramaturg and award-winning writer Dr. Laura Stanfield Prichard for an examination of seven new contemporary oratorios and operas. Dr. Prichard worked with Hollywood composer Aaron Zigman for 1,000 days as the original Dramaturg for the New York Philharmonic’s recent commission Émigré, featured on PBS (2023-24). Through her experience, we will explore what it is like to be involved in, and a witness to, the creation of seven of this century's best new masterworks including two new oratorios. We will hear from composers, authors, designers, and scholars in our quest to understand how contemporary musical collaborations can still create tuneful, melodic concert oratorios and fresh, contemporary operatic treatments that speak to twenty-first century audiences. All of the stories deal with difficult periods of recent history through catharsis, irony and humor, including Annalies (2007 U.S. premiere) and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2024, Indiana University premiere), which offer contrasting reflections on the Holocaust. Four new operas weave historical characters and events into unforgettable new narratives: Omar (2002), The Handmaid’s Tale (2003 U.S. premiere), The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (2017, Santa Fe Opera premiere), and Grounded (2023 Kennedy Center premiere). Be prepared to be amazed by the variety of innovative, thoughtful approaches that mark the very best of contemporary dramatic music.

Group Leadership Style  More lecture than facilitated discussion.

Course Materials  All materials will be provided on a class website or by email links

Preparation Time  Films will be provided in advance. Each complete concert work is roughly 2 hours long.

Biography  Dr. Laura Stanfield Prichard is a popular pre-concert lecturer for local music groups (Boston Baroque/Lyric Opera, Berkshire Choral International), well known in California since 1995 (San Francisco Symphony, SF Opera/Merola, SF Choral Society). Trained under Ann Howard Jones, Robert Shaw, and Michael Tilson Thomas, she has conducted, accompanied, and sung professionally as a longtime member of the SF Symphony Chorus, Yale Alumni Chorus, and Tanglewood Festival Chorus. She was a finalist for the 2015 Pauline Alderman Award for outstanding writing on women and music and the 2019 Kurt Weill Award for writing on contemporary musical theater.

Study Group Leader (SGL) -   Georgia Weinstein

Location:  This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation in this course requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email. 

Thursday– Course Period 2 – 11:10 am - 12:35 pm

5 week course - October 23  - November 20

 Description  She’s Exceptional!  She’s an exception to the rule!  Is it good or bad to be exceptional? An exception to the rule can mean that someone has special privileges, or for women in science it can mean that while they are talented, most women are not. We will use the book The Exceptions, by Kate Zernike, to discuss the experience of Nancy Hopkins as a doctoral candidate at Harvard from 1966-1971, as a post-doc in James Watson’s lab at Harvard, and as a professor at MIT, beginning in 1973. In the 1990s, Hopkins realized that she had a lower salary and less lab space than men of comparable status and funding. She gathered a group of MIT women scientists and convinced MIT President Charles Vest that women were second-class citizens of the MIT community. 

As we read the book together, we will discuss the science and the scientists. What did it take for a woman to succeed?  Who helped and who hindered?  You may know many of the players whom Zernike discusses – Larry Summers, David Baltimore, Millie Dresselhaus, and more. At the conclusion you will have a clear idea of what it takes to be an “Exception.”

Group Leadership Style  Roughly the same amount of lecture and discussion.

Course Materials  The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike.  Additionally some short videos ( 5 minutes or less) of the important people such as Nancy Hopkins, James Watson and Charles Vest will be provided.

Preparation Time  80 pages a week of The Exceptions book.

Biography  Georgia Weinstein is a graduate of Cornell University with a PhD in Chemistry from MIT and a Masters in Nutritional Biochemistry from MIT.  She taught for over 25 years in the Chemistry Department of Boston University.  She has taught six courses at BOLLI ranging from the history of advice columns to the stories of three Nobel Prize winners. She has been a BOLLI member for over 10 years.

Study Group Leader (SGL) -  Maya Yehezkel  

Location:  This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation in this course requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email.  

Thursday– Course Period 1 – 9:30am - 10:55 pm

5 week course - October 23  - November 20

 Description In these turbulent times, art becomes more than just a form of expression—it becomes a voice. In this course, the SGL will invite you to listen to that voice and explore how art reflects the emotions, thoughts, and experiences of individuals and communities during war.  The SGL will share her personal story of how sand art helped her navigate the first days of the war, offering a raw, emotional look at how creativity can be a lifeline in the darkest times.

Together, we will examine works of Israeli artists created after October 7th, diving deep into what these pieces reveal about the collective soul of a society in crisis. We’ll explore not only street art and graffiti but also fine art and poetry, learning how each form responds to conflict in its own unique way.

This isn’t just a course about art—it’s an invitation to discuss the issues we’re all facing right now. Through the lens of creativity, we will talk about the new reality we find in Israel, and how art allows communication through a different language, one that transcends politics and speaks directly to the heart. Join the SGL for a journey into the stories that shaped October 7th and the art that is helping us make sense of it all.

Group Leadership Style  Roughly the same amount of lecture and discussion.

Course Materials  During the course we will use YouTube videos and references to online resources.

Preparation Time  One hour

Biography  Maya Yehezkel, an Israeli multidisciplinary artist, certified tour guide, and public speaker, holds a B.Des in Visual Communication from Bezalel Academy of Art, focusing on graffiti and street art, and an M.A. in Jewish Peoplehood Studies from the University of Haifa. Maya guides diverse groups throughout Israel, blending cultural insight with artistic storytelling. Her original sand art and her book Sand Woman TLV have gained international recognition. Since October 7th, Maya has been documenting war-related art across Israel, lecturing on the role of creativity in times of crisis, and touring the U.S. sharing this work through art, story, and dialogue.