Developed in EiO’s The Writers’ Room, Constance: A Confession is a comedic journey following one woman’s devotion to the long art of the con. The opera starts with an act of violence in a grad school art class, and continues as Constance finds work as a psychic, becomes a wellness influencer and grows her online empire into a cult—with deadly consequences. Scored for four singers and all-star experimental ensemble Hypercube, this new opera takes a biting look at the power of storytelling in the hands of a charismatic figure.
The Writers’ Room program has been a mainstay of Experiments in Opera’s work over the last eight years as the company has expanded the pool of artists who are making and imagining opera. To date, 45 writers and composers from all backgrounds and experiences have collaborated to break open the historic model of single authorship. In addition to collaborating on the overall story, each episode features music and text by a new pairing formed from the members of the Writers’ Room.
Librettists: Susan Bywaters, Lisa Clair, Sam Norman and Ed Valentine
Composers: Jasmine Galante, Elizabeth Gartman, Mattie Levy, and Roger A. Martinez.
Performers
Sydney Anderson as Constance
Nathaniel Sullivan as The Mark
Sishel Claverie as The Enabler
Zen Wu as The Skeptic
Hypercube Ensemble
-Erin Rogers, Saxophones
-Jay Sorce, Guitars
-Andrea Lodge, Piano and Keyboards
-Christopher Graham, Percussion
The Team
Shannon Sindelar, Director
Dmitry Glivinskiy, Music Director
Silin Chen, Scenic Design
Mary Ellen Stebbins, Lighting Design
Krista Intranuovo Pineman, Costume Design
David Pym, Video Design
Jack Woods, Technical Director
Nathaniel Butler, Sound Engineering
Meet the Performers
Sydney Anderson
A contemporary opera enthusiast, soprano Sydney Anderson (she/they), has participated in numerous World Premieres and workshops, featured often with Beth Morrison Projects and American Lyric Theater. She has created the roles of Winnie in Two Corners (Boykin/Lee) at Finger Lakes Opera, Soprano in ¡Viva España! with Portland Opera, One in it is a comfort to know (Gartman/Bywaters) at National Sawdust, Dalinda in Being Ariodante (Dawe) with Ensemble Échappé. This season, she is thrilled to create the titular role in Constance: A Confession, with Experiments in Opera. In 2019, Sydney was named an Eastern District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, winning the Audience Favorite Award at the Region Finals. She was a member of the 2023 Producers Academy with Beth Morrison Projects, and is the Founder/Artistic Director of The Why Collective, an interdisciplinary arts organization dedicated to a collaborative creation process, and uplifting works by underrepresented voices. In 2023, the collective held residency at Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre, where Sydney produced four new interdisciplinary works, including the sold-out premiere of The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space by Bryce McClendon. www.sydneyandersonsoprano.com / www.thewhycollective.art
Sischel Claverie
Sishel Claverie is a Mexican-American singer, actor, and stage director whose versatile career spans opera, new music, and multidisciplinary collaborations. Recent engagements include her debut with St. Pete Opera in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen and her appearance as a drag king in Heartbeat Opera’s annual drag show extravaganza, Orgy & Bess. As a stage and creative director, she made her NYC debut this season with MACC Ensemble’s choral-theater production Seven Last Words, for which she also designed and performed live analog projections. She has additionally served as stage and creative director for the Santa Fe Opera Young Voices Scenes Showcase (2024/2025). Other highlights include Bernstein’s MASS with the National Symphony Orchestra, Renata in the mariachi-opera El Milagro del Recuerdo with San Diego Opera, and Olga in Heartbeat Opera’s bold adaptation of Eugene Onegin. Claverie holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Houston and a Master of Music from Rice University.
Nathaniel Sullivan
An “alert and highly musical baritone” (Opera News), Nathaniel Sullivan infuses his work with “impressive strength and precision” (Schmopera), as well as “great eloquence” and “allegiance to both music and words” (ConcertoNet). Recent highlights include the roles of Jochanaan in Salome with Heartbeat Opera and West Bay Opera, The King in the North American premiere of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at Tanglewood, the Reporter in the English-language premiere of Ma Hanrui’s Mi 谜 (The Enigma) at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Jesus in Johannes-Passion with Abendmusik. Nathaniel was one of seven winners of the 2023 Astral Artists National Competition and has been awarded the Grace B. Jackson Prize for exceptional service at Tanglewood, Third Place in the Washington International Competition, Third Place in the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition, Third Place in the Orpheus Vocal Competition, and First Place in the NATS National Musical Theatre Competition.
Zen Wu
Zen Wu is a soprano from the San Francisco Bay. Trained as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist in a wide range of genres, she collaborates on a variety of projects from the opera and concert stages to chamber music and movie soundtracks. Wu studied voice at UC San Diego, where she was immersed in experimental performance in addition to training in traditional repertoire and technique. She sang two seasons with the San Diego Opera before making her professional mainstage debut and moving to New York, where she is currently based as a freelance classical artist. Her 2025-26 solo engagements include Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Wu studied jazz and holds a degree in political science from Columbia. She makes her Carnegie Hall solo debut in Fall 2026 as soprano soloist in the Fauré Requiem with the Oratorio Society of New York. www.zenopera.com
Meet the Composers and Librettists
Susan Bywaters (Librettist) is a writer based in New York City. Her works center around morality, absurdity, and the victim/perpetrator paradigm. Susan’s works have been performed on stages in Europe, South America, and throughout the US. Her most recent libretti, including An ending with Samuel Beebe (Strange Trace), The Windows with Elizabeth Gartman (Guerilla Opera), Daughter of God with Christopher Bell (LOAM), and My Wife is a Ghost (Bard College) have been commissioned by companies across the US. Also a playwright and poet, Susan is collaborating with director Madeline Whitesell in the development of her play Date/Rape. susanbywaters.com
Lisa Clair (Librettist) is a New York based playwright and performer. She makes work under the name Lisa Clair Group, a collective of performers, musicians, and designers who collaborate across disciplines to create live, experimental performance. Her plays are wild, surreal, funny and deeply personal. Lisa is a New Georges affiliated artist and a core artist with Immediate Medium. Her work has been presented at MITU580, (In Collaboration with New Georges and Immediate Medium), The Collapsable Hole, Target Margin Theater, SPRING/BREAK art show, The SFX Festival, The Bushwick Starr Reading Series, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, The Silent Barn and The Performance Project at University Settlement. lisaclair.com
Jasmine Galante (Composer) is a composer, playwright, vocalist and arts administrator based in New York. Aiming to foster connections between the performer and audience, Galante’s music is dramatically driven and explores the intersection of timbre and texture through her imaginative sound worlds. She often explores themes of loss and grief through her plays and librettos, seeking to create platforms to discuss these difficult topics. Galante is a soprano and board member of Cantori New York, a choir devoted to performing new and diverse repertoire, and earned her Bachelor of Music in Composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. jasminegalante.com
Elizabeth Gartman (Composer) With compositions described as “refreshingly absurd” (The Washington Post) and “innovative” (Twin Cities Arts Reader), composer Elizabeth Gartman’s work explores vocalism, process in performance, and active listening. Elizabeth’s music has been commissioned by Washington National Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, New Chamber Ballet, Guerilla Opera, InfraSound Ensemble, Ensemble Chemie, the Why Collective, Pax Duo, and others. Recent accolades include selection as a composer with the American Opera Initiative (2023), Honorable Mention for the Darmstadt Ferienkurse Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (2023), William Schuman Prize for Most Outstanding Score with BMI Student Composer Awards (2021), and runner-up of Beth Morrison Projects’ Next Generation (2022). elizabethgartman.com
Mattie Levy (Composer) Described as multi-faceted, relevant, and fun, Mattie Levy (writer, performer/composer) obtained masters degrees in Composition and Oboe Performance from the University of Michigan. Her recent works include “Floating on the Wings of Our Planet,” an immersive media piece addressing climate change, and her Presser award-winning cross-disciplinary show “Concert Black,” which follows three Black classical musicians and their journeys through life. Mattie’s essay: “If my Imposter Syndrome had a Voice and the Reality of the Situation” was published in the online journal: Currents in Music Research. Connect with mattie on Instagram bit.ly/levymakesproductions
Roger A. Martinez (Composer) composes music that explores the connecting threads among forms. Roger’s operatic works, such as 2024’s Souls Unscreened and 2021’s Alcina Revamped, often feature chamber instrumentation alongside electronic components. His music has been performed in collaboration with Experiments in Opera, Alter Ego Chamber Opera, and ENA Ensemble. Roger’s credits also include soundtracks for films, podcasts and video games. He is a member of the critically acclaimed chamber-pop group Settled Arrows, contributing production work and string arrangements to the group’s 2024 album Nectar. Roger is a graduate of San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Technology and Applied Composition program. rogeramartinez.com/
Sam Norman (Librettist) writes for the stage and screen. As a 2023-4 American Opera Initiative Fellow, he co-wrote HAIRPIECE, which premiered at the Kennedy Center in early 2024. Other operatic work includes MUCKRAKERS (NYU/AOP Lab 2024) and THREE PENELOPES (Britten Theatre 2022). Sam has co-written COME DINE WITH ME: THE MUSICAL, which is slated for an off-West End production following runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and Norwich Playhouse. His screenplay GAMESTOP won the ScreenCraft TV Pilot Fellowship 2024. He is a Resident Artist at the American Lyric Theater, a Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriter and a Broadway Future Songbook writer. BA, Oxford; MFA, NYU Tisch. samuelnorman.com
Ed Valentine (Librettist) is a four-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning writer for Sesame Street. He has written for The Fairly OddParents, My Little Pony, and Sharkdog, among many other TV shows. Ed’s plays have been produced around the U.S. and internationally; he was awarded a Dramatists Guild Fellowship and was named one of “50 Writers to Watch” in The Dramatist Magazine. Ed is a co-artistic director of both The Beekeepers Theater (Sheffield, MA) and New Circle Theatre Company (NYC). He is a graduate of Boston College and has his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. edvalentine.com