Wed 2/16-Thu 2/17 @ 7:30PM
Fri 2/18-Sun 2/20 @ 7-10PM
If you thought opera was a dying, moribund art form, think again. Younger musicians and composers are taking the art form in new and unexpected directions. And this week you’ve got a chance to hear some of the quirky and contemporary things they’re doing with it, courtesy of two of the area’s top conservatories.
On Wednesday February 16 and Thursday February 17, Oberlin Conservatory will present the world premiere of Matthew Recio’s The Puppy Episode, based on, of all things, an episode of the old sitcom Ellen, in which the star, Ellen DeGeneres, comes out as gay, considered a critical moment for gay people in entertainment history. The opera features the experiences of different types of people recognizing their sexual orientations at different stages of life.
A student cast of six singers and eight musicians will perform the work at Oberlin’s Warner Concert Hall. Admission is free but there’s limited seating. However, the Wednesday performance will also be livestreamed at Oberlin.edu/livestream. More information here.
Then, on Friday February 18 through Sunday February 20 @ 7-10pm, Baldwin Wallace Voice Performance, Cleveland Opera Theater and On Site Opera present BW conservatory students in a series of nine new “micro operas,” about 10 minutes a piece, written by well-known contemporary composers and librettists, commissioned by Director of Opera Studies Scott Skiba to give students a unique performance opportunity. They were given free reign over style and content, except that the pieces had to lend themselves to social distancing and remote collaboration.
“Each of these operas became a place to connect over great distances, a place to be together although apart, and a place to come together in the creative art making process in a uniquely memorable and meaningful way,” says Skiba, “‘In place’ and ‘our place’ …our necessary place to connect, to collaborate, and to create as we all navigated through uncharted territory in every sense imaginable.”
The festival will air virtually as part of Cleveland Opera Theater’s 2022 {NOW} New Opera Works Festival. Go here for more information.