Experiments in Opera: Five Ways to Die
$20-$35
- Alize Francheska Rozsnyai, soprano
- Rose Hegele, soprano
- Melisa Bonetti Luna, mezzo-soprano
- Lisa Neher, mezzo-soprano
- Kannan Vasudevan, tenor
- Seth Gilman, baritone
- Eileen Mack, clarinet & bass clarinet
- James Moore, electric guitar
- Tristan Kasten-Krause, electric bass & double bass
- Joe Bergen, vibraphone & percussion
- Matt Evans, drumset
- Dmitriy Glivinskiy, conductor
Jason Cady — Valhalla Valley Mall (libretto by Jason Cady)
Seong Ae Kim — Water Prayer (libretto by Marcella Murray)
Del'Shawn Taylor — Serials Killers and The City (libretto by Joanie Brittingham)
Five Ways to Die was written and composed by artists in Experiments in Opera's critically-acclaimed Writers' Room, a regularly-occurring program for composers and librettists that Experiments in Opera began in 2019. The Writers' Room challenges the precedent of single authorship and embraces a model where multiple composers and librettists create a large-scale work that embodies the spirit of an inclusive and collaborative community. Prior Writers' Room works include Aqua Net & Funyuns (2020) and Everything For Dawn (2022). More information: https://experimentsinopera.com/portfolio-item/eio-writers-room/
Jesse Gelaznik & Britt Hewitt – Mischief (or Rathattan): New York City’s rats devise a plan to deal with their most annoying pests: human beings.
Jason Cady – Valhalla Valley Mall: A woman explores an abandoned mall as Sirens induce her to venture further into what becomes an infinite labyrinth.
Seong Ae Kim & Marcella Murray – Water Prayer: Water struggles with the inherent loss and destruction of maintaining Earth’s tenuous balance.
Del'Shawn Taylor & Joanie Brittingham – Serials Killers and The City: Four women, brunching in the Upper East Side, discuss life, love, and how best to dispose of a body.
4 performances:
- Thursday, June 27, 2024 at 7pm (SOLD OUT)
- Friday June 28, 2024 at 7pm
- Saturday June 29, 2024 at 7pm
- Sunday June 30, 2024 at 1:30pm
About Alize Francheska Rozsnyai, soprano
About Rose Hegele, soprano
About Melisa Bonetti Luna, mezzo-soprano
About Lisa Neher, mezzo-soprano
Dr. Lisa Neher (she/her, "NEER") is an award-winning composer and new music mezzo on a mission to transform audiences through sound, story, and vulnerability. With a voice praised as "full and rich" and "especially alive" (Oregon ArtsWatch), Neher's performance credits include Third Angle New Music, Really Spicy Opera, Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre Oregon, New Music Gathering, Resonance Ensemble, Experiments in Opera, Renegade Opera, and Big Mouth Society. She is a member of Portland Opera Chorus and President of New Wave Opera.
Described as a "supremely talented," "visionary composer" (Willamette Week), "maestro of beautifully wacky noises" (Oregon ArtsWatch), and author of "liquid, impressionist piano writing and fluent melding" of voices (New York Classical Review), Neher's compositions are inspired by the climate crisis, the tender love of family and friends, and the eerie mystery of deep ocean life. She is Composer in Residence for the Beaverton Community Band. She has been commissioned and performed by the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Cincinnati Song Initiative, Third Angle New Music, FearNoMusic, Dinosaur Annex, New Opera West, Mirror Visions Ensemble, Alma Ensemble, Opera Elect, and Opera Santa Barbara, among others.
Her awards include the Flute New Music Consortium Competition, ICDA/ICF Choral Competition, Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition and the Celebris Ensemble Choral Competition.
http://www.lisanehermusic.com/About Kannan Vasudevan, tenor
About Seth Gilman, baritone
About Eileen Mack, clarinet & bass clarinet
About James Moore, electric guitar
About Tristan Kasten-Krause, electric bass & double bass
About Joe Bergen, vibraphone & percussion
Cited by The New York Times as "finely polished," and by Voice of America for his "expertly played performances," Joe Bergen is an in-demand percussionist and educator in the New York metro area. Joe has toured internationally with his critically acclaimed groups, Mantra Percussion ("Superhuman performance" – Time Out NY) and Transit ("eminently skillful" – The New York Times), and has been a featured performer at prestigious events including the San Fransisco Symphonies American Mavericks Concert at Carnegie Hall, Yale in New York at LPR, and the Percussive Arts Society 50th Anniversary Concert in Indianapolis.