Morningside Opera to Present HERE BE SIRENS, 1/11-2/2

Morningside Opera, the NYC-based opera company that most recently presented the acclaimed ¡Figaro! (90210), is proud to present HERE BE SIRENS, the world premiere of a new dramatic composition by award-winning composer Kate Soper, directed by OBIE Award-winner Rick Burkhardt. HERE BE SIRENS, which marks the premiere of a new work by a living composer for Morningside Opera, will play six performances from January 11th - February 2nd at the Dixon Place Theater (161A Chrystie Street, in New York's Lower East Side). Tickets for HERE BE SIRENS are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, $15 for students and seniors. Advance tickets are now available online at www.morningsideopera.com, by calling 866-811-4111, or in-person at Dixon Place .

HERE BE SIRENS blends music, screwball comedy, and Aristotelian tragedy to present the mythological sirens as real beings as they try to croon their way off the island. Scored for three female voices and piano, HERE BE SIRENS lives on the cutting edge between music and theatre as all three performers play the grand piano.

HERE BE SIRENS is the newest work by composer/soprano Kate Soper, hailed by the New Yorker as "a dazzling vocalist" and praised in the New York Times for her "exquisitely quirky" compositions. Ms. Soper received an award from the Guggenheim Foundation in 2012, which supports this production of her new work. Other recent awards and commissions include the American Composers Orchestra, The Koussevitsky Music Foundation, and Chamber Music America. She is a co-director and vocalist for the new classical music ensemble Wet Ink.

HERE BE SIRENS is be directed by Obie-winner Rick Burkhardt (Three Pianos), listed as an "Off-Off Broadway Innovator to Watch" by Time Out New York (2011).

HERE BE SIRENS features GELSEY BELL, BRETT UMLAUF, and MS. SOPER.

Annie Holt, Artistic Director of Morningside Opera says: "I am pleased that contemporary opera is gaining a strong foothold among the current generation of young composers. As a composer and a singer, Kate Soper gives a fresh take on the dangers of the Sirens, and on indulgence in sensual pleasure at its most extreme."

Now in its sixth season, Morningside Opera has been praised for its "bold imagination and musical diligence" by the New York Times. Morningside Opera's mission is to challenge the boundaries and conventions of the genre, and to spark dialogue about opera between new and traditional audiences. The company's most recent production, ¡Figaro! (90210), was hailed as "blasphemous, brilliant... uproariously funny" by The New York Times, and "as timely as it is sexy" by the New York Post. Morningside Opera is committed to inventive, accessible productions of operas . . . new, old, and somewhere in between. Unique among small opera companies in the region, Morningside Opera has a strong scholarly focus, curating educational programs and workshops that feature leading scholars and practitioners.

HERE BE SIRENS will play the following six performances at Dixon Place:

Saturday, January 11th at 7:30 pm; Sunday, January 12th at 4:00pm

Thursday, January 30 at 7:30pm; Friday, January 31st at 7:30pm;

Saturday, February 1st at 7:30pm; Sunday, February 2nd at 4:00pm.

Dixon Place is located at 161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey), in Manhattan's Lower East Side (by subway: F to 2nd Ave, J/Z to Bowery, 6 to Spring St, M to Essex St).

The Dixon Place Lounge is open before, during, and after the show. Proceeds directly support Dixon Place's artists and mission.

Dixon Place, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1986 to provide a space for literary and performing artists to create and develop new works in front of a live audience. Its mission is to support and nurture the development of new work and works in progress from diverse artists and to build new audiences for the work. The artist's experience is given top priority through Dixon Place's professional atmosphere and remuneration, and the process is enhanced through the reaction of its adventurous audiences. Dixon Place is a local haven for creativity as well as an international model for the open exploration of the process of creation.

Photo is by: Kobi Davis