New York City Opera Hosts a Workshop Presentation of Pedro Halffter's New Opera KLARA

New York City Opera presents a presentation of a brand-new production of Pedro Halffter’s opera KLARAdirected and choreographed by Richard Stafford which will take place on Monday, January 22, 2024 at Theatre of St. Jean, 150 E. 76th Street, NYC. This will be the first time this opera has been presented in New York.

KLARA, written by internationally renowned composer/conductor Pedro Halffter, features a titular character who is a form of artificial intelligence and explores philosophical and spiritual questions such as the meaning of consciousness/self-awareness in artificial life forms and what the reliance on this technology might imply for humanity in the future. It had its world premiere in Villafranca del Bierzo, Spain, its US premiere at Harvard University and other performances at the Museum of Energy in Ponferrada, Spain, at Teatro De Escorial outside of Madrid, and most recently at the renowned Teatro Perez Galdos in the Canary Islands. The opera has been hailed as "very moving" by Beckmesser and by La Provincia, Diario de las Palmas as "an impeccable reflection on how artificial intelligence can have the same desires and objectives as we do."

The presentation will feature Ashley Galvani Bell as the protagonist Klara, dancers Maci Arms, Kristi Bement, Laura Henning and Miranda Jones, and Silvia Santinelli and Pedro Halffter himself at the pianos.

The event will be followed by a Q&A and discussion about artificial intelligence and its implications on humanity featuring Dr. Wendy Ju of Cornell Tech, Swami Sarvapriyananda of the Vedanta Institute of New York, and moderated by journalist Andrew Bell.

This evening has been facilitated by a grant from the Spanish government organization Acción Cultural Española, which made the participation of composer/conductor Pedro Halffter possible. 

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