Composer Blake Allen will showcase his “INSOMNIA” at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 8, 2022.

The work, which is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Sleeping and Walking” will feature soprano Cree Carrico, Jeanna  de Waal, the Argus Quartet, and pianist Chris Koelzer.

The work blends opera, musical theater, and classical music to create a multi-movement composition that focuses on the effects of sleep deprivation and anxiety on two people living 100 years apart.

“Insomnia is said to be an innate, evolutionary condition stemming from the time when humans were hunters and gathers,”Allen said in an official press statement. “According to anthropologists, wolf pups would hunt right before dawn, often targeting young children, and so humans would wake up early, before the hunt to protect their offspring. Since then, the anxiety of the ‘encroaching’ wolf pup has been replaced by sleepless nights filled with worrisome thoughts, growing lists of tasks and projects to complete, decisions we have yet to make, texts we shouldn’t have sent, and the stress of our impending day-to-day circumstances and life events.

“Through music and story, my ‘INSOMNIA’ evening dissects what happens when we battle with our subconscious thoughts and the potentially far-reaching effects of the decisions we make when our mind is racing, compounded by the very real stress of trying to fall asleep.”