Operas

Excerpt from the workshop of Winter's Child Presented at The Industry’s First Take

Christopher Rountree, Conductor 
Maria Elena Altany, Peabody 
Southwell; Stephanie Aston, Jessica Aszodi, Ariel Downs, Leslie Ann Leytham, 
Jessica Mirshak, Kirsten Wiest 
Nick Tipp, Audio & Recording Engineer


The first excerpt begins as Child has a moment alone – away from Mama -  in the bath. Child is visited for the first time by the ghost of her sister Margaret, (played by a chorus of women) who died in the bath.  Margaret desperately tries to convey a message to Child, but is unable to fully or clearly express herself. Mama overhears the commotion and interferes, at which point Margaret disappears.  When Margaret disappears, Child’s bath water becomes flowers.  Child is in awe and mesmerized.  Mama comforts herself with a prayer she often repeats as a mantra.

WintersChild Excerpt 1

Excerpt from the workshop of Winter's Child Presented at The Industry’s First Take

Christopher Rountree, Conductor 
Maria Elena Altany, Peabody 
Southwell; Stephanie Aston, Jessica Aszodi, Ariel Downs, Leslie Ann Leytham, 
Jessica Mirshak, Kirsten Wiest 
Nick Tipp, Audio & Recording Engineer

After Mama tucks Child into bed during a thunderstorm, the ghost of Leanna (also played by a chorus of women) – who died in the rain -  arrives to convey a message to Child.  With Leanna’s arrival comes Child’s first personal experience of the potent and terrible craving that led her Mama to eat the flowers by The Lake. Leanna is more able to express the Lake’s message: “You will one day return what is mine.”  Child, crippled by her cravings, longs to free her sisters.  She pleads to get more information.  As Leanna leaves the rain becomes oceans of flowers falling by Child’s window.

WintersChild Excerpt 2

Excerpt from the workshop of Winter's Child Presented at The Industry’s First Take

Christopher Rountree, Conductor 
Maria Elena Altany, Peabody 
Southwell; Stephanie Aston, Jessica Aszodi, Ariel Downs, Leslie Ann Leytham, 
Jessica Mirshak, Kirsten Wiest 
Nick Tipp, Audio & Recording Engineer

Child is swept into a dream state by her sisters and The Lake where they tell her of her family’s past.  Although she’s confused, she listens.  The story unfolds.  Child learns that The Lake allowed Mama to eat its flowers in exchange that she would one day return what belonged to The Lake – her daughters.  Child also learns that to fully fulfill her Mama’s promise, Child must be returned to The Lake.  Everything is waiting for her.

WintersChild Excerpt 3

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

Scene I. Gone 
On the shore of Troy. The city has fallen. Hekabe, former queen, and Trojan women wait to be taken into slavery by the Greek army. 

gone
it's all gone
nothing left
the city's razed, our families killed, their bodies burned
their bodies, where are they?
where


Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - I. Gone

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

Scene I. Scraped out my veins
nothing to cover us
nothing left but sand
and the sound of the water
sand and water, sound of water
wash away shore, wear away ears
bury us already

Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - I. Scraped out my veins

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

II. Take this		
Red Riding Hood’s mother sends her with a basket to her grandmother

take this to your grandmother
she's sick, she needs something warm
be good, be careful
stay safe, stay warm
stay covered, stay pure
stay on the path
keep safe, covered, keep your hood on
don't let anyone see you
don't idle, don't dally, don't delay, don't stop
don't get distracted, don't talk to strangers, don't let anyone touch you
never talk to strangers


Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - II. Take this

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

III. Black wings
Hekabe, who has lost 50 children, dreams of a wolf clawing away a deer. Polyxena, her last daughter, is demanded as a sacrifice to the ghost of Achilles. 

i dreamed of black wings
my child, my daughter, little deer
my child, my dear daughter, dear pulled to bits

dear child, torn bits, blood claws
not my child pulled to bits by a wolf
pulled to bits by a wolf's bloody claws

claws, please not my 
child, not my dear
send away from this fate
send her far away from this fate
away


Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.


Hoods - III. I Dreamed Of Black Wings

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

Scene III. Breeze of sea
where will you take me
hopeless, land fallen, ruined, smoldering 
spear-caught
I will be a slave in a foreign land

Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - III. Breeze Of Sea

Scene V. Hand 
	
Shore of Troy. Upon washing Polyxena’s body, the women of Troy discover the body of Hekabe’s last son, who had been sent to Polymestor, King of Thrace, for safekeeping. Hekabe implores Agamemnon, Greek king, to help her revenge his death. Slave to his army, he cannot help. 

the body of your son
a thrown out thing
breaking waves carried him from the sea

my eyes, that dream
black wings
my child, your body
I saw you dead in the daylight

two children, two bodies
my children, all bodies

Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - V. Dead In Daylight

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

Scene V. Killed for gold-
threw the body out, tossed him into sea
a sea-thrashed thing

be my avenger, help me
I can't help you

once I was royal, I was a queen, now your slave
once I bloomed with children, now childless
cityless, alone
nothing

Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - V. Killed for gold

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

Scene V. Scream black scream

tell our friend that I, former queen of Troy, invite them
bury my children side by side

the gods send no wind, we must watch and wait
washed upon shore, brought back by waves
unwept, unburied
cloud of Greeks, covers you
shorn your crown of towers
stain black with fire, fire
scream cut the air, air
stained black, black fire
scream cut the air, fire
scream black scream

Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - V. Scream black scream

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

VII. Eyes 			
Tent of Trojan women. Hekabe invites Polymestor and family to her tent, blinds him, and kills all his children. Polymestor asks for justice from Agamemnon, who deems it served. Polymestor tells Hekabe she will turn into a dog with eyes of red fire.

tumble into water
fall out of your own heart
lose your own life

Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - VII. Fall out of your heart

Hoods
an opera mashup of Hekabe and Red Riding Hood

Scene VIII. Stomach is a forest

hello grandmother

hello, hello

it's warm in here, i feel so warm in here

i'm so hungry, still so hungry

where are those cakes i brought?

it's tearing me up

o what sharp teeth you have, grandmother

teeth are for cutting, tearing
rending limb from limb
rending meat from bone, dear

claw and tear a way out
my teeth are sharp, my teeth are fingers
small fingers, teeth, fingers
knives, swords, fingers
open up an exit

these are skills of carving
skill skill
note for note
shapes of pain, dear
slash to pieces

red cape, red knife
red hood, red knife
red body, my body
red open my body
open my heart
open my eyes
red eyes

wipe the blood on the way out

how to make a scar

it was so dark in there


Jessica Aszodi, Stephanie Aston, Natalie Moran, sopranos.
Michael Matsuno, flute/bass flute; Sam Dunscombe, clarinet; Nicolee Kuester, French horn; Ryan Nestor, percussion; Judith Hamann, cello; Kyle Motl, contrabass; Stephen Lewis, conductor.

Recorded by Colin Zyskowski, Studio A, UCSD, 2014.

Hoods - VIII. Stomach Is a Forest

HUNGER: Part III, Sc. 1 (Clip 1) - August 14th & 15th, 2014
A new multimedia opera in four parts by composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan & librettist Darcie Dennigan

Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop with Ensemble Interface, soprano S.Aston, mezzo-soprano B.K.Majewska, baritone S.Storck. 
Musical director/conductor Stephan Schreiber, stage director L.Steier, Dramaturg P.Hahn, composer H.Thomalla, and vocal instructor D.Michel-Dansac.

Knut Hamsun’s novel "Sult" is a point of departure for a libretto by award-winning poet Darcie Dennigan, exploring themes of psychological decay, irrationality, and self-destruction. Oumenos is a starving and delusional young writer who is unwilling to compromise his work even as his intellect and body gradually deteriorate.  He is split in two; the baritone and soprano form a composite, each depicting aspects of his inner/outer selves and suppressed madness. His hunger and self-disgust lead him to consider stealing bread, and to thoughts of self-mutilation. He despises his baseness. He is a dog. He is drawn to Ylajali, a young girl who appears to him in various manifestations – her physical existence and a distortion/projection in his mind. At the bloodbank, Ylajali draws his blood. At the spermbank, she coaxes his orgasm. In a butchershop, Ylajali as countergirl displays the meat before him. He fights his coarseness and hungers to appear presentable, normal. He finds himself examining her on the counter as if she were meat. Humiliated by his inner self, and by Ylajali, he in turn humiliates her. He has again become, in his mind, a dog.

The first completed scene (Part III, Sc. 1) was selected for the Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop and premiered August, 2014 in an acoustic version for three singers, a.flute, b.clarinet, perc, pno, vln, and vc. This ensemble was later augmented by the inclusion of e-guitar, bari sax, electronics, and video projection. Scenes 1 & 2 were premiered in a concert version with electronics at The Industry’s FIRST TAKE in Los Angeles on February 21, 2015. LA Times critic Mark Swed called Hunger (Part III) “elliptical” – “Hunger is a kind of training session in mental disintegration… An ungodly opera needs ugly music, singers who produce primal sounds, an electric guitar that sounds scraped raw, a wailing orchestra effects, cuts the ear like a knife. Buchanan delivers.”  The first complete staged performance of "Hunger (Part III, Scenes 1 & 2)" with live video processing was premiered by the [Switch~ Ensemble] on May 15, 2016 as part of MATA’s Interval Series at the DiMenna Center in NYC.

Our vision is a multimedia opera whose musical and dramaturgical narrative is driven not by dialogue or action, but rather psychological and musical states seamlessly entwining electronics and real-time video capture of liver performance against pre-recorded film, with multiple projection surfaces and electronics. At its core, Hunger evokes the deeply “internal” quality of Hamsun’s Sult, while reason and semantic content are obfuscated through the fragmentation of both music and text. Oscillation between intelligibility and unintelligibility demand focus on phenomenological qualities and filmic subtlety, inviting participants to explore and engage with a multiplicity of potential narrative threads played out as contradictory physical and digital manifestations occurring simultaneously. Because its true subject is, as Hamsun described, “the delicate fluctuations of a sensitive soul, the strange, peculiar life of the mind,” "Hunger" invites participants to construct and engage with a multiplicity of scenarios and readings. Hunger breaks with operatic conventions by eschewing grandeur and dramaturgical coherence in order to explore the volatile city of one man’s psyche. The edge of comprehensibility itself becomes a means of structural integrity, reflecting the central themes of deterioration and fragility. 

More information and synopsis: www.hungeropera.com

HUNGER Part III, Scene 1 (m.1) - Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop

HUNGER: Part III, Sc. 1 (Clip 2) - August 14th & 15th, 2014
A new multimedia opera in four parts by composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan & librettist Darcie Dennigan

Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop with Ensemble Interface, soprano S.Aston, mezzo-soprano B.K.Majewska, baritone S.Storck. 
Musical director/conductor Stephan Schreiber, stage director L.Steier, Dramaturg P.Hahn, composer H.Thomalla, and vocal instructor D.Michel-Dansac.

Knut Hamsun’s novel "Sult" is a point of departure for a libretto by award-winning poet Darcie Dennigan, exploring themes of psychological decay, irrationality, and self-destruction. Oumenos is a starving and delusional young writer who is unwilling to compromise his work even as his intellect and body gradually deteriorate.  He is split in two; the baritone and soprano form a composite, each depicting aspects of his inner/outer selves and suppressed madness. His hunger and self-disgust lead him to consider stealing bread, and to thoughts of self-mutilation. He despises his baseness. He is a dog. He is drawn to Ylajali, a young girl who appears to him in various manifestations – her physical existence and a distortion/projection in his mind. At the bloodbank, Ylajali draws his blood. At the spermbank, she coaxes his orgasm. In a butchershop, Ylajali as countergirl displays the meat before him. He fights his coarseness and hungers to appear presentable, normal. He finds himself examining her on the counter as if she were meat. Humiliated by his inner self, and by Ylajali, he in turn humiliates her. He has again become, in his mind, a dog.

The first completed scene (Part III, Sc. 1) was selected for the Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop and premiered August, 2014 in an acoustic version for three singers, a.flute, b.clarinet, perc, pno, vln, and vc. This ensemble was later augmented by the inclusion of e-guitar, bari sax, electronics, and video projection. Scenes 1 & 2 were premiered in a concert version with electronics at The Industry’s FIRST TAKE in Los Angeles on February 21, 2015. LA Times critic Mark Swed called Hunger (Part III) “elliptical” – “Hunger is a kind of training session in mental disintegration… An ungodly opera needs ugly music, singers who produce primal sounds, an electric guitar that sounds scraped raw, a wailing orchestra effects, cuts the ear like a knife. Buchanan delivers.”  The first complete staged performance of "Hunger (Part III, Scenes 1 & 2)" with live video processing was premiered by the [Switch~ Ensemble] on May 15, 2016 as part of MATA’s Interval Series at the DiMenna Center in NYC.

Our vision is a multimedia opera whose musical and dramaturgical narrative is driven not by dialogue or action, but rather psychological and musical states seamlessly entwining electronics and real-time video capture of liver performance against pre-recorded film, with multiple projection surfaces and electronics. At its core, Hunger evokes the deeply “internal” quality of Hamsun’s Sult, while reason and semantic content are obfuscated through the fragmentation of both music and text. Oscillation between intelligibility and unintelligibility demand focus on phenomenological qualities and filmic subtlety, inviting participants to explore and engage with a multiplicity of potential narrative threads played out as contradictory physical and digital manifestations occurring simultaneously. Because its true subject is, as Hamsun described, “the delicate fluctuations of a sensitive soul, the strange, peculiar life of the mind,” "Hunger" invites participants to construct and engage with a multiplicity of scenarios and readings. Hunger breaks with operatic conventions by eschewing grandeur and dramaturgical coherence in order to explore the volatile city of one man’s psyche. The edge of comprehensibility itself becomes a means of structural integrity, reflecting the central themes of deterioration and fragility. 

More information and synopsis: www.hungeropera.com

HUNGER Part III, Scene 1 (m.23) - Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop

HUNGER: Part III, Sc. 1 (Clip 3) - August 14th & 15th, 2014
A new multimedia opera in four parts by composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan & librettist Darcie Dennigan

Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop with Ensemble Interface, soprano S.Aston, mezzo-soprano B.K.Majewska, baritone S.Storck. 
Musical director/conductor Stephan Schreiber, stage director L.Steier, Dramaturg P.Hahn, composer H.Thomalla, and vocal instructor D.Michel-Dansac.

Knut Hamsun’s novel "Sult" is a point of departure for a libretto by award-winning poet Darcie Dennigan, exploring themes of psychological decay, irrationality, and self-destruction. Oumenos is a starving and delusional young writer who is unwilling to compromise his work even as his intellect and body gradually deteriorate.  He is split in two; the baritone and soprano form a composite, each depicting aspects of his inner/outer selves and suppressed madness. His hunger and self-disgust lead him to consider stealing bread, and to thoughts of self-mutilation. He despises his baseness. He is a dog. He is drawn to Ylajali, a young girl who appears to him in various manifestations – her physical existence and a distortion/projection in his mind. At the bloodbank, Ylajali draws his blood. At the spermbank, she coaxes his orgasm. In a butchershop, Ylajali as countergirl displays the meat before him. He fights his coarseness and hungers to appear presentable, normal. He finds himself examining her on the counter as if she were meat. Humiliated by his inner self, and by Ylajali, he in turn humiliates her. He has again become, in his mind, a dog.

The first completed scene (Part III, Sc. 1) was selected for the Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop and premiered August, 2014 in an acoustic version for three singers, a.flute, b.clarinet, perc, pno, vln, and vc. This ensemble was later augmented by the inclusion of e-guitar, bari sax, electronics, and video projection. Scenes 1 & 2 were premiered in a concert version with electronics at The Industry’s FIRST TAKE in Los Angeles on February 21, 2015. LA Times critic Mark Swed called Hunger (Part III) “elliptical” – “Hunger is a kind of training session in mental disintegration… An ungodly opera needs ugly music, singers who produce primal sounds, an electric guitar that sounds scraped raw, a wailing orchestra effects, cuts the ear like a knife. Buchanan delivers.”  The first complete staged performance of "Hunger (Part III, Scenes 1 & 2)" with live video processing was premiered by the [Switch~ Ensemble] on May 15, 2016 as part of MATA’s Interval Series at the DiMenna Center in NYC.

Our vision is a multimedia opera whose musical and dramaturgical narrative is driven not by dialogue or action, but rather psychological and musical states seamlessly entwining electronics and real-time video capture of liver performance against pre-recorded film, with multiple projection surfaces and electronics. At its core, Hunger evokes the deeply “internal” quality of Hamsun’s Sult, while reason and semantic content are obfuscated through the fragmentation of both music and text. Oscillation between intelligibility and unintelligibility demand focus on phenomenological qualities and filmic subtlety, inviting participants to explore and engage with a multiplicity of potential narrative threads played out as contradictory physical and digital manifestations occurring simultaneously. Because its true subject is, as Hamsun described, “the delicate fluctuations of a sensitive soul, the strange, peculiar life of the mind,” "Hunger" invites participants to construct and engage with a multiplicity of scenarios and readings. Hunger breaks with operatic conventions by eschewing grandeur and dramaturgical coherence in order to explore the volatile city of one man’s psyche. The edge of comprehensibility itself becomes a means of structural integrity, reflecting the central themes of deterioration and fragility. 

More information and synopsis: www.hungeropera.com

HUNGER Part III, Scene 1 (m.28) - Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop

live recording from REDCAT, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA, April 13, 2014

Stephanie Aston, soprano
Andrew Tholl, conductor
New Century Players

Bonnie And Clyde - On The Easter Death Of H.D. Murphy

HUNGER: Part III, Sc. 1 (m.48, Clip 4) - August 14th & 15th, 2014
A new multimedia opera in four parts by composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan & librettist Darcie Dennigan

Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop with Ensemble Interface, soprano S.Aston, mezzo-soprano B.K.Majewska, baritone S.Storck. 
Musical director/conductor Stephan Schreiber, stage director L.Steier, Dramaturg P.Hahn, composer H.Thomalla, and vocal instructor D.Michel-Dansac.

Knut Hamsun’s novel "Sult" is a point of departure for a libretto by award-winning poet Darcie Dennigan, exploring themes of psychological decay, irrationality, and self-destruction. Oumenos is a starving and delusional young writer who is unwilling to compromise his work even as his intellect and body gradually deteriorate.  He is split in two; the baritone and soprano form a composite, each depicting aspects of his inner/outer selves and suppressed madness. His hunger and self-disgust lead him to consider stealing bread, and to thoughts of self-mutilation. He despises his baseness. He is a dog. He is drawn to Ylajali, a young girl who appears to him in various manifestations – her physical existence and a distortion/projection in his mind. At the bloodbank, Ylajali draws his blood. At the spermbank, she coaxes his orgasm. In a butchershop, Ylajali as countergirl displays the meat before him. He fights his coarseness and hungers to appear presentable, normal. He finds himself examining her on the counter as if she were meat. Humiliated by his inner self, and by Ylajali, he in turn humiliates her. He has again become, in his mind, a dog.

The first completed scene (Part III, Sc. 1) was selected for the Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop and premiered August, 2014 in an acoustic version for three singers, a.flute, b.clarinet, perc, pno, vln, and vc. This ensemble was later augmented by the inclusion of e-guitar, bari sax, electronics, and video projection. Scenes 1 & 2 were premiered in a concert version with electronics at The Industry’s FIRST TAKE in Los Angeles on February 21, 2015. LA Times critic Mark Swed called Hunger (Part III) “elliptical” – “Hunger is a kind of training session in mental disintegration… An ungodly opera needs ugly music, singers who produce primal sounds, an electric guitar that sounds scraped raw, a wailing orchestra effects, cuts the ear like a knife. Buchanan delivers.” The first complete staged performance of "Hunger (Part III, Scenes 1 & 2)" with live video processing was premiered by the [Switch~ Ensemble] on May 15, 2016 as part of MATA’s Interval Series at the DiMenna Center in NYC.

Our vision is a multimedia opera whose musical and dramaturgical narrative is driven not by dialogue or action, but rather psychological and musical states seamlessly entwining electronics and real-time video capture of liver performance against pre-recorded film, with multiple projection surfaces and electronics. At its core, Hunger evokes the deeply “internal” quality of Hamsun’s Sult, while reason and semantic content are obfuscated through the fragmentation of both music and text. Oscillation between intelligibility and unintelligibility demand focus on phenomenological qualities and filmic subtlety, inviting participants to explore and engage with a multiplicity of potential narrative threads played out as contradictory physical and digital manifestations occurring simultaneously. Because its true subject is, as Hamsun described, “the delicate fluctuations of a sensitive soul, the strange, peculiar life of the mind,” "Hunger" invites participants to construct and engage with a multiplicity of scenarios and readings. Hunger breaks with operatic conventions by eschewing grandeur and dramaturgical coherence in order to explore the volatile city of one man’s psyche. The edge of comprehensibility itself becomes a means of structural integrity, reflecting the central themes of deterioration and fragility.

More information and synopsis: www.hungeropera.com

HUNGER Part III, Scene 1 (m.48) - Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop

HUNGER: Part III, Sc. 1 (m.48, Clip 4) - August 14th & 15th, 2014
A new multimedia opera in four parts by composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan & librettist Darcie Dennigan

Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop with Ensemble Interface, soprano S.Aston, mezzo-soprano B.K.Majewska, baritone S.Storck. 
Musical director/conductor Stephan Schreiber, stage director L.Steier, Dramaturg P.Hahn, composer H.Thomalla, and vocal instructor D.Michel-Dansac.

Knut Hamsun’s novel "Sult" is a point of departure for a libretto by award-winning poet Darcie Dennigan, exploring themes of psychological decay, irrationality, and self-destruction. Oumenos is a starving and delusional young writer who is unwilling to compromise his work even as his intellect and body gradually deteriorate. He is split in two; the baritone and soprano form a composite, each depicting aspects of his inner/outer selves and suppressed madness. His hunger and self-disgust lead him to consider stealing bread, and to thoughts of self-mutilation. He despises his baseness. He is a dog. He is drawn to Ylajali, a young girl who appears to him in various manifestations – her physical existence and a distortion/projection in his mind. At the bloodbank, Ylajali draws his blood. At the spermbank, she coaxes his orgasm. In a butchershop, Ylajali as countergirl displays the meat before him. He fights his coarseness and hungers to appear presentable, normal. He finds himself examining her on the counter as if she were meat. Humiliated by his inner self, and by Ylajali, he in turn humiliates her. He has again become, in his mind, a dog.

The first completed scene (Part III, Sc. 1) was selected for the Darmstadt Contemporary Opera Workshop and premiered August, 2014 in an acoustic version for three singers, a.flute, b.clarinet, perc, pno, vln, and vc. This ensemble was later augmented by the inclusion of e-guitar, bari sax, electronics, and video projection. Scenes 1 & 2 were premiered in a concert version with electronics at The Industry’s FIRST TAKE in Los Angeles on February 21, 2015. LA Times critic Mark Swed called Hunger (Part III) “elliptical” – “Hunger is a kind of training session in mental disintegration… An ungodly opera needs ugly music, singers who produce primal sounds, an electric guitar that sounds scraped raw, a wailing orchestra effects, cuts the ear like a knife. Buchanan delivers.” The first complete staged performance of "Hunger (Part III, Scenes 1 & 2)" with live video processing was premiered by the [Switch~ Ensemble] on May 15, 2016 as part of MATA’s Interval Series at the DiMenna Center in NYC.

Our vision is a multimedia opera whose musical and dramaturgical narrative is driven not by dialogue or action, but rather psychological and musical states seamlessly entwining electronics and real-time video capture of liver performance against pre-recorded film, with multiple projection surfaces and electronics. At its core, Hunger evokes the deeply “internal” quality of Hamsun’s Sult, while reason and semantic content are obfuscated through the fragmentation of both music and text. Oscillation between intelligibility and unintelligibility demand focus on phenomenological qualities and filmic subtlety, inviting participants to explore and engage with a multiplicity of potential narrative threads played out as contradictory physical and digital manifestations occurring simultaneously. Because its true subject is, as Hamsun described, “the delicate fluctuations of a sensitive soul, the strange, peculiar life of the mind,” "Hunger" invites participants to construct and engage with a multiplicity of scenarios and readings. Hunger breaks with operatic conventions by eschewing grandeur and dramaturgical coherence in order to explore the volatile city of one man’s psyche. The edge of comprehensibility itself becomes a means of structural integrity, reflecting the central themes of deterioration and fragility.

More information and synopsis: www.hungeropera.com

Operas

StephanieLAston