"... exquisite darkness… whimsical lines… captivating experience." The Stranger Kidnapping Water travels through warnings, prayers, fantasies, and whispers in a thematic review for future generations about an element older than man. Human voices (singers Josie Davis, Emily Greenleaf, Jeremiah Oliver, David Stutz) and splashing water (percussionists Stuart McLeod, Dean Moore, Benjamin Morrow, James Whetzel) cry out harder than the silent wisdom of hair turned white. There is fear and longing in these Bottled Operas. Not a run-away-in-fear or humping-towards desire, more a pause-and-reflect terror and furrowed-brow hope that sends quiet shivers through the stomach. Breath senses water disappear. Ears caress aural mirages where the abundant waterways of the present hide a future of burning salt. The lyrics, prompted by the I Ching 易經 (Book of Changes), are reinterpreted by librettists Eugenie Chan, Bret Fetzer, Aaron Jafferis, Archana Kumar, Carola Luther, Caroline Murphy, Vivian Umino, and Edisa Weeks. 23 of 64 Bottled Operas are included on this CD.