Experiments in Opera Announces Its Fifth Anniversary Season

While the world is awash in new opera ventures, Experiments in Opera stands out from the crowd. A composer-driven collective with an air of mad scientists in the lab, EiO is interested in new formulas, not traditional ones, questioning what opera really can be in the 21st Century.

The company was founded in 2010 by a trio of "talented, fearless, and congenial" (The Brooklyn Rail) composer-performers in Brooklyn: Matthew Welch, Jason Cady, and Aaron Siegel. In the personalities of these three creators, there's a certain amount of anarchy, wit, and invention that guarantees though they may be dead serious, it will be a fun ride.

As Experiments in Opera embarks on its fifth season, it continues to place composers at the forefront as key visionaries of modern-day opera-giving them the freedom to mess with the mechanics of opera itself (as in EiO's Radio Operas), how it's delivered (live or on video), scale and duration (10 minutes to evening-length). Whether it's fully or minimally produced is inconsequential. EiO bypasses the cumbersome traditional production schedule and lets things happen as fast as possible.

EiO's subversive impulses and numerous commissions from both rising and established composers has led The New Criterion to hail the organization as "a vital part of the subculture." This season alone will see 20 world premiere vocal works, from newcomers such as Emily Manzo to experimental master Elliott Sharp.

In addition to performances at The Stone and Anthology Film Archives, EiO will continue to organize What Goes On, an annual publication that features writings on and about contemporary opera, written and edited by other creators of contemporary opera. All of the activity throughout the 2015-16 season will be documented and archived at experimentsinopera.com, a growing library of experimental works.

HIGHLIGHTS 2015-16

The Travel Agency is on Fire:
Burroughs Cuts up the Great Bards

Friday, October 16, 2015, 8:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.
A collaborative song-cycle featuring the "cut-ups" of William Burroughs, commissioned from 11 composers including Elliott Sharp and JG Thirwell
The Stone
Corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street
$15 General Admission for each set at the door

Matthew Welch Portrait

Saturday, December 12, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
Welch hosts an evening of short works and scenes from
his opera about his family's time in a Filipino prison camp
Featuring Blarvuster, Welch's longtime band of bagpipes, gamelan & rock
and Mantra Percussion

The Stone
Corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street
$20 General Admission at the door

Video Operas

April 2016 (exact date TBA)
Screening of six newly commissioned operas created specifically for video

Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Ave, NYC, anthologyfilmarchives.org
$10 General Admission

Experimental Choral Works

Thursday, July 28, 2016, 8:00 p.m.
An evening curated with composer Jessica Pavone,
featuring The Ghostlight Chorus

The Stone
Corner of Avenue C and 2nd Street
$15 General Admission at the door