The Tank
312 W 36th Street
New York, NY
SOLOperas is a double feature of new operas for solo performers. The two premieres will be performed back to back in a seamless evening of music and theater.
The INComplete Cosmicomics
The INcomplete Cosmicomics is a stand-alone opera by composer/writer Anna Heflin for vocalizing cellist/actor and electronics in which author Italo Calvino’s mystical entity Qfwfq continues his journey. After being stuck in a void for thousands of years with only a cello and a looper, the incongruous and multifaceted Qfwfq comes to life. Upon exiting the void, he faces a choice: he can either explode into existence as all beings or end linear time. Inspired by Calvino’s The Complete Cosmicomics, Heflin’s work is an original creation in which Qfwfq takes the reins of his own narrative. Equipped with a sharp sense of humor and sensuality, Qfwfq ruminates, charms and hypnotizes in his quest to break the loops of life.
The work showcases Juilliard-educated cellist Aaron Wolff as Qfwfq, whose acting credits include Danny Gopnik in the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man.
This Is Not About Natalie
This is Not About Natalie is a one-act opera with words and music by Jason Cady. It features a solo singer with a ventriloquist doll and guitar. She portrays a songwriter who uploads a new, original song everyday to Youtube and introduces each song in dialogue with her puppet. She was formerly one half of the underground duo, “Kris and Natalie.” Her former partner, Natalie, went on to become a famous popstar. But this is not about her.
Sarah Daniels, soprano and guitar, stars in this one-woman opera.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jason Cady is a composer and librettist. Pitchfork called him a “mod-synth mastermind…funny and engaging.” Anthony Tommasini, in the New York Times, described his video opera, I Screwed Up the Future, as “charming fantasy…drably comic and spacey.” Cady’s music has been released on Aerocade, Lockstep Records and Peacock Recordings, and his podcast opera, Buick City, 1:00 AM is available on Apple Podcasts. Cady is the Artistic Director of Experiments in Opera. He was born in Flint, Michigan and now lives in New York City with his wife, Ann Heppermann, and their two cats. He is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Anna Heflin is a composer and writer who creates deeply researched staged performance pieces that incorporate text, theatrical elements, and multimedia components. Her large-scale pieces construct strange, dream-like worlds, with non-linear narratives that thrive on musical and psychological fragmentation. Her works have been performed at Ostrava Days, Bohemian National Hall, DOX Prague, PowerStation NYC, Banff Centre, Arete Gallery, Spectrum NYC, University of Oregon, Rochester Fringe Festival, University at Buffalo, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and more.
Sarah Daniels, soprano and actor, made her debut with Experiments in Opera was as the lead character in Chunky in Heat. Her performance was described in The Observer as “so convincing that at times the piece felt more like reality television than an opera.” She has performed as Monica in The Medium with both Chelsea Opera and City Lyric Opera; as Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites with Bronx Opera; and in many other roles with Fresh Squeezed Opera, dell’ Arte Opera, Rainy Park Opera Company, and others. Sarah has a B.M. in Classical Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and was a performance fellow in Longy’s Divergent Studio.
Aaron Wolff is a New York City-based cellist, described by the Chicago Tribune as “a musician of quicksilver brilliance.” He gave his Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall as the winner of the 2023 Leo B. Ruiz Memorial recital. He currently plays with numerous groups including New York Classical Players, Contemporaneous, Metropolis Ensemble, Argento New Music Project and Princeton Symphony. Aaron has also found creative outlets in acting – most notably in a lead role in the Coen brothers’ film A Serious Man. He has an MM from Juilliard, where he was a Kovner Fellow under Joel Krosnick. Aaron plays an 1813 Thomas Kennedy cello made in London.