The opera, which was commissioned by Minnesota Opera and Utah Opera, will get its world premiere in St. Paul in February 2007 before coming to Salt Lake City in May 2007. Salt Lake City audiences have already had multiple previews, however: Gordon discussed his progress at the Utah Arts Festival in 2004, and several selections were performed at the city's library last year.

This month's performance takes place at the Amphitheatre Stage in Salt Lake City's Library Square on June 23 at 7:30 p.m. Grant Gershon will conduct. Admission is $8.

Gordon is a composer of operas, theatrical works, and songs; his opera The Tibetan Book of the Dead premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 1996, and his song cycle Orpheus and Euridice premiered at Lincoln Center last year. The Grapes of Wrathhas a libretto by Michael Korie, the librettist for Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk and the lyricist for the recent musical Grey Gardens. Playwright and theater director Eric Simonson is the director.