Selected Reviews:

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"...fluently and cleverly directed, Harry Ogg ensures transparency and an energetic approach from the Gürzenich Chamber Formation's conductor's stand. Among the fantastic ensemble, Emily Hindrichs stands out with her seraphic soprano as Iania Costa, John Heuzenroeder as the stalwart Mani, and Miljenko Turk's self-righteous, heroically baritone performance as the police chief. A big applause for a catchy piece of new music, certainly suitable for the repertoire." Regine Müller, Rheinische Post

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"[...] because Frank Pesci has sensitively composed the instrumental pieces between the scenes, which Harry Ogg highlights with great precision.

[...] the reduced staging in terms of set design works because the Cologne ensemble not only sings well but also excels in their performance."

Stefan Keim, Deutschlandfunk

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"[...] Pesci's experienced hand, well-versed in sacred music as well as jazz and chamber music, weaves a web of atmospherically dense, spirited, and contemplative tones. Strong bass-baritone: David Howes, brilliant: baritone Miljenko Turk, touching: tenor John Heuzenroeder,  captivating: Emily Hindrichs, soprano, wonderfully wicked: tenor Martin Koch. In her direction, Maria Lamont makes the power play appear timeless. [...]"

Jan Sting, Kölnische Rundschau

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Pesci's music also structures itself in the eight scenes of the opera as a montage of diverse influences, intentionally intersecting and overlapping but never truly merging into a single language, with the harshness of contrasts in focus: percussion, banjo, piano, and a substantial jazz brassband are added to the small string group. The ferment of new musical cultures, from African American influences to Italian singing traditions, clashes with the music of the Catholic religious tradition, which opens up in the composed lyricism of the Ave Maria, sung by Hennessy's (mother) (Regina Richter and Miljenko Turk) and the Dies Irae that explodes at the end of his funeral in the sixth scene.

Andrea Penna, Il Manifesto

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The music composed by Pesci for the piece is brimming with jazz and Southern local color. It grooves, it swings, it captivates. Surely, a strength of the score lies in these powerful and vibrant passages that find resonance and create an interesting bridge towards contemporary music. Pesci adeptly guides the vocal lines, avoiding straying too far into atonality, and showcases the capabilities of his instrumentation in orchestral interludes. It's all very thoughtfully executed, and the overall structure of the libretto works. 

Sebastian Jacobs, Der Openfreund

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"The Strangers" is a historical piece with great contemporary relevance. The staging, set design, and costumes were well-executed and cohesive. Frank Pesci's music superbly captures the cultural melting pot of New Orleans. Different musical cultures are condensed into a unified whole. Jazz and classical music blend in a symbiosis that feels entirely organic and never forced. Uwe Bräutigam, NRWJazz.net

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"The Strangers" works so well ... because the libretto fits the music perfectly. Andrew Altenbach – himself a ... conductor – demonstrates his experience as a music theater performer with his text, and his language in the English original has precise timing. Pesci's music entertains in the best sense with a blend of Southern blues, the emerging Dixie and jazz of the time, spirituals, church music with hymns and chorales, Caribbean-Creole, African-American, and European elements. Interludes reflect the respective mood and emotional state: agitated and dissonant, flattering and lyrical, or brass-driven and rhythmic. Mechtild Tillman, Live in der Oper

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The Libretto in English by Andrew Altenbach develops a story inspired by real events in a dramatically balanced manner through a prologue, seven scenes, and an epilogue...the skillful construction of the score, alternating between lighter moments and more dramatically intense ones, makes the two hours of the work truly captivating. Stefano Nardelli, Giornale della Musica