REDCAT Will Present the World Premiere of Jacqueline Bobak's Experimental Opera DADA DIVAS

REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, will present the world premiere of Dada Divas, an experimental opera by Jacqueline Bobak.

Created by acclaimed veteran singer and composer Jacqueline Bobak, Dada Divas unearths and celebrates the works and lives of the Dada movement's historically neglected female pioneers: Emmy Hennings, Mina Loy, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, and others.

Drawing on elements of Dada, Futurism, variety shows, opera, experimental music, and performance art, Dada Divas comments on the status of women, immigration, drug addiction, war, consumerism, and other concerns that are as pressing today as they were when Dada erupted a century ago.

Said Bobak about her inspiration for Dada Divas,"In their time, the women of Dada were insurgent creative forces to be reckoned with. Presenting an opera based on their works and lives is incredibly timely given the current sociopolitical climate and interest in rectifying gendered historicity. The women of Dada and their ideas are relevant, inspiring, and provocative still today. The Dada Divas are artistic ancestors whose voices modern women restore into conversations that demand attention.'

After previews in Mexico, the Czech Republic, and San Francisco, this rendition marks the premiere of the complete work, performed by a Los Angeles-based team of cutting-edge talent including the virtuoso singers Jacqueline Bobak, Sharon Chohi Kim, Micaela Tobin, and Meltem Ege.

More Information: dadadivas.com

Tickets: redcat.org/event/dada-divas

Artist Bios

Jacqueline Bobak is a singer, composer, and educator committed to creating, interpreting, and teaching adventurous music made with and for the voice. She has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe, composed music ranging from solos to an opera, conducted research in experimental music and art, collaborated with numerous composers, and taught since 1991 at the California Institute of the Arts.

For many years Ms. Bobak has been a critically acclaimed performer in the Los Angeles area, where she has appeared on the LA Philharmonic Green Umbrella series, Monday Evening Concerts, REDCAT, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Getty Center, Villa Aurora, MicroFest, Automata, and Downtown Opera. In Europe she has appeared on the Audio Art Festival in Kraków; the Moravian Autumn Festival, Musica Nova Exposition, and New Music + series in Brno, and the Olomouc Contemporary Music and Opera Schrattenbach Festivals in Olomouc (Czech Republic); at the Mozarteum, the Academy of Musical Arts, the Moravian Gallery, and The Roxy in Prague; on the York Spring Music Festival (UK); and at Spīķeri and Wagner Halls in Rīga (Latvia). Recently she performed her own compositions on the Festival Vértice in Mexico City, the XIII Festival Internacional Música Nueva in Monterrey, and the Dada World Fair in San Francisco.

Ms. Bobak's recently emerging compositional voice is informed by over three decades of deep involvement in new music. Her work mixes visceral and intellectual elements in pieces that expand vocal boundaries while also incorporating extra-musical ideas and influences from theater and the visual arts. Her other recent focus has been on John Cage's vocal and theatrical works, especially Song Books. Her many performances of Song Books have included a version accompanying Mikhail Baryshnikov and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on its farewell tour, and she was a founding artist of Vir2Ual Cage, a project that recast Cage's work using modern technology.

Ms. Bobak is considered one of the leading teachers of contemporary vocal repertoire, techniques, and performance in the United States. She currently serves as Co-Director of CalArts' VoiceArts Program, a flexible course of study dedicated to creating art made with and for the voice. A sought-after lecturer on contemporary vocal music, she has taught master classes at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, several European conservatories, and colleges throughout the US. Recently she has expanded her research to include linguistics, and teaches courses that explore the creative potential of phonetics.

Micaela Tobin is a Los Angeles-based soprano, sound artist, and teacher who specializes in contemporary opera and, under the moniker of White Boy Scream, dissects her singing through the use of electronics and extended techniques. Her album Remains was named by The Wire as one of the top ten noise and industrial recordings of 2018.

Meltem Ege is an internationally acclaimed jazz singer, composer, and educator who has performed with ensembles from big bands to symphony orchestras at numerous clubs, concert halls, and festivals worldwide. Prior to moving to LA, she served as Chair of the Contemporary Singing Department at Başkent University Conservatory in Ankara.

Sharon Chohi Kim has performed throughout the Los Angeles area, most recently in the roles of Hungry Ghost in Meredith Monk's ATLAS with the LA Philharmonic and Lucha in The Industry's Hopscotch. Her electroacoustic opera Unseal Unseam, co-composed with Micaela Tobin, premiered to a five-star review at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Photo Credit: Mark Bobak