ICYMI: Mary Anning– Fossil Hunter Now in Video Again

The world premiere of The First Universalist Society will take place on Sunday, June 9 ‘Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter’a chamber orchestra, was performed by a mixed ensemble of professionals and amateurs, with financial support from the Franklin Cultural District Committee.

The opera was the brainchild of Dr. Jon Ceander Mitchell, a retired music professor and orchestra conductor living in Franklin with a keen interest in dinosaurs and paleontology. During the pandemic, he had the idea to combine his interests to tell the story of a self-taught 19th century Englishwoman named Mary Anning who became one of the world’s first paleontologists.

If you missed the event, you’re in luck. Franklin TV covered it and created an edited video that is now available on Youtube. The entire performance lasts just over an hour, with the following times:
0:01 Overture

5:33 Prologue

8:24 Interlude

9:26 First act

35:23 Snack

37:49 Act II, scene 1

44:36 Act II, scene 2

53:10 Act II, scene 3

1:03:55 Epilogue

1:07:40 Arches

“Chris Leverone of Franklin TV did a wonderful video recording of the premiere of my chamber opera Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter,” Mitchell said. “The video beautifully captures the skillful interactions of the characters, as well as the balance between the instrumental forces and the vocal soloists,” he added. The conductor was Luis Viquez of the University of Rhode Island.