HERE Presents First Ever Zoom Opera

HERE will present all decisions will be made by consensus, a 15-minute operatic experiment by composer Kamala Sankaram, librettist Rob Handel, and director Kristin Marting. This first-ever Zoom opera will be performed live on April 24, 2020 at 1PM, April 25 at 7PM, and April 26 at 3PM. It features vocalists Paul An, Hai-Ting Chinn, Zachary James, Joan LaBarbara, Adrian Rosas, and Sankaram herself, with special guest Joel Marsh Garland. all decisions will be made by consensus centers on a Zoom meeting of activists with radically conflicting styles. The presentation is not open for review.

"With the current health crisis and its related cancellations, artists have found themselves trying to find new ways to connect with their audiences," said Sankaram. "As always with new technologies, adapting traditional models can be an uneasy fit. So, I began this project with a question: what would happen if you created a piece specifically intended to be performed live over a conferencing platform like Zoom? The result is an experiment, an absurdist comedy, and a first answer to that question, hopefully leading to new ways to connect in this new world we've found ourselves in."

all decisions will be made by consensus is from the same team of artists who created the 2019 immersive techno-noir opera about digital privacy, Looking at You, which Heidi Waleson in The Wall Street Journal singled out for its "artful, well-paced libretto" and "lively music-theater-infused score."

Interested audience members can join directly to a special Zoom link TBA to watch and enjoy the performance. Additionally, the opera will be streamed to HERE's Facebook page on Friday, April 24 at facebook.com/hereartscenter/. Other details on the live streams can be found here: facebook.com/events/695839284558301/.

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