OVERVIEW
Experiments in Opera is no ordinary opera company. We create new opera with librettists, composers, singers, instrumentalists, directors and designers in the same room. And we make new opera with a focus on fun and spontaneity. We want to work with adventurous and committed singing actors who enjoy taking chances and trying new things in a supportive environment.
Experiments in Opera invites Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, and Baritone singers to audition for our upcoming vocal workshop of Five Ways to Die, a new opera written by the EiO Writers’ Room with contributions from five librettists and five composers.
Five Ways to Die is a world premiere opera written and composed by artists in our critically acclaimed Writers’ Room; the project is a way of challenging the precedent of single authorship and embracing a model where multiple composers and librettists create a large-scale work that embodies the spirit of a community in collaboration. The work will feature a chamber ensemble of five musicians, a cast of six singers and maximalist aesthetics to investigate superpowers, secrets, getting lost in the miasma of the past, and of course, death.
We are holding auditions for singers to be involved in the development of Five Ways to Die; a vocal workshop will take place Friday, May 26th at ART/NY’s South Oxford Space (138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY), in The Great Room. The workshop will run from 10a.m. to 5p.m., with a one-hour lunch break. Singers will receive $300 for six hours’ work.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
Experiments in Opera is a contemporary opera company, so we are looking for singers who are excited about new music and working with composers and librettists. We want to work with singers who enjoy taking chances onstage to play varied and unusual characters and most of all, who are interested in having fun!
We are committed to inclusive casting and our imaginations are wide enough to conceive of every role in this opera as being played by performers of varying race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and physicality.
Here are brief descriptions of each piece:
Libretto by Melisa Tien
Composed by Anthony Gatto
A girl with a low-key superpower is trying to have a regular day until she accidentally leaks her secret and all hell breaks loose.
Serial Killers and The City
Libretto by Joanie Brittingham
Composed by Del’Shawn Taylor
Four women, brunching in the Upper East Side, discuss life, love, and how best to dispose of a body.Water Prayer
Libretto by Marcella Murray
Composed by Seong Ae Kim
Water struggles with the inherent loss and destruction of maintaining Earth’s tenuous balance.
Mischief (or Rathattan)
Libretto by Britt Hewitt
Composed by Jesse Gelaznik
New York City’s rats devise a plan to deal with their most annoying pests: human beings.Oblivion Mall
Libretto and composition by Jason Cady
A woman explores an abandoned mall as Sirens induce her to venture further into what becomes an infinite labyrinth.
AUDITION DETAILS
Video Submission
We are asking that all singers submit a link to a video that demonstrates their singing ability. This video should include a performance of an aria or song of your choosing in English that you feel best represents your musicality and storytelling abilities. While we’re open to all repertory, we are a contemporary opera company and love to hear work written in the last 50 years.
Apply here!