Five Ways to Die is a world premiere opera 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 Sisyphus (2017), Aqua Net & Funyuns (2020) and Everything For Dawn (2022). Five Ways 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.

Family Heirloom
Libretto Melissa Tien
Composition Anthony Gatto

Water Prayer
Libretto Marcella Murray
Composition Seong Ae Kim

Oblivion Mall
Libretto & Composition Jason Cady

MISCHIEF (or RATHATTAN)
Libretto Britt Hewitt
Composition Jesse Gelaznik

Serials Killers and The City
Libretto Joanie Brittingham
Composition Del’Shawn Taylor

Vocals:
Melisa Bonetti
Seth Gilman
Lisa Neher
Abigail Raiford
Alize Rozsnyai
Kannan Vasudevan

Musicians:
Clarinet/bass clarinet: Christa VanAlstine
Electric guitar: James Moore
Acoustic/Electric bass: Tristan Kastin-Krause
Drumset: Robbie Bowen

Production:
Music Direction: Dmitry Glivinskiy
Stage Direction: Shannon Sindelar
Set Design: Caitlin Ayer