Dark Sisters

by Nico Muhly

May 30 & 31, 2025

Composed by Nico Muhly
Libretto by Stephen Karam
Arranged by Nate Thatcher
Presented under license from G. Schirmer, Inc. o/b/o Chester Music Ltd. / St. Rose Music Publishing Co. 

Dark Sisters follows one woman’s dangerous attempt to escape her life as a member of the FLDS Church (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints), a sect that split from mainstream Mormonism in the early 20th Century largely because of the LDS Church’s renunciation of polygamy. The male founders of the Mormon faith (Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, chief among them) loom large in American history; Dark Sisters puts the women front and center.

The narrative draws inspiration from the flurry of media attention surrounding the two most infamous raids on FLDS compounds (the 1953 raid at Short Creek, AZ and the 2008 raid at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, TX) as well as the stories of the over 80 wives of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Set against a red-earthed landscape filled with revelations, dark prophets and white temples stretching towards heaven, Dark Sisters charts one woman’s quest for self-discovery in a world where personal identity is forbidden.

Featuring a 4-piece chamber orchestra conducted by Andrew Bisantz