LA Opera's Next Digital Short, Du Yun's THE ZOLLE SUITE Premieres Online July 9

Throughout the 2020/21 season, LA Opera's series of Digital Shorts has showcased an astonishingly diverse range of filmmaking, from the hyper-theatricality of The Five Moons of Lorca to the suspense of The West is a Land of Infinite Beginnings, from the spare documentary gravity of Death to the sumptuous visuals of Brown Sounds. (All of these can be viewed at LAOpera.org/DigitalShorts.)

The eighth Digital Short in the series, Du Yun's The Zolle Suite, which premieres online on July 9, turns to a completely different language of film: experimental animation.

The new short from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun brings three chapters of her 2005 opera Zolle to the digital screen, produced by Ron Diamond of Acme Filmworks. By turns abstract, compelling, resigned, even harrowing, three movements from the opera are brought to life by an international trio of animation directors- Steven Woloshen, Benjamin Swiczinsky and Kristian Pedersen-each creating his own unique visual interpretation of Du Yun's striking musical world.

Diamond's advice for viewers? Let your mind roam free and prepare to be blown away. "Experimental animation is about going with the flow, not trying to make sense out of every image you see, but rather being free to go on a crafted journey of music and visuals. The harmony of artful animation for each movement is a lovely testament to the form. Let the textures, colors and imagery wash over you; each interpretation is unique to each viewer."

The musical forces heard in The Zolle Suite include mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn and the International Contemporary Ensemble, conducted by Julian Wachner.

Du Yun and Zolle

Born and raised in Shanghai, China, and currently based in New York City, Du Yun is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, performance artist, activist and curator of new music. She works at the intersection of orchestral music, opera, chamber music, theater, cabaret, musical theater, oral tradition, public performances, sound installation, electronics, visual arts and noise. She won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for her 2016 opera Angel's Bone (which LA Opera had planned to present in the spring of 2020). In 2022, LA Opera will present the West Coast premiere of her monodrama In Our Daughter's Eyes, starring baritone Nathan Gunn.

Zolle is Du Yun's 2005 chamber opera, composed for a narrator, a female vocalist and a small instrumental ensemble. In the piece, a dead woman wanders through the shadowy space between memory and reality, unable to choose between the worlds of the living and the dead. Ultimately, she lets go of both, turning into a part of the earth. (The word "zolle" is Italian for "a big chunk of earth.")

For viewing details and additional information, visit LAOpera.org/Zolle.

Part of the company's On Now platform of online programming, Digital Shorts are newly commissioned films that team gifted composers, performers and visual artists. Digital Shorts are offered free of charge to all viewers.

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