Impropera Presents MUSO in 2017-18 Season

MUSO aims to inspire and develop a new level of engagement between audiences, the arts, academia and museums. It takes an audience on a journey through an exhibition where they are invited to seek out hidden treasures, share their responses, hear from an expert and watch as their ideas are spun into music by an improvising opera troupe. It is the first of its kind of performance; an explosive collaboration between improvised opera and academia that places the audience at its centre.

Muso is the brainchild of Impropera artistic director David Pearl "It evolved from work we have done over many years including with world-leading Process Psychologists Jean-Claude and Arlene Audergon. They particularly helped us develop our intuitive skills, flex our creative freedom and deepen the improvisational process. We worked together on Songs from Nowhere which invited audience members to consider "what's on your mind?", to share this and then have the company explore these ideas musically and vocally. This led to us exploring how we might use these skills to animate architectural spaces (letting the 'genius loci' sing). Which in turn led to MUSO. Then we met the charismatic academic Dr.Chiara Ambrosio (UCL lecturer in History and the Philosophy of Science) who joined the project and introduced us to UCL's Grant Museum of Zoology a wonderfully theatrical museum space which was the perfect environment to develop this project. This new phase, generously supported by UCL Culture, will bridge to other Museums and grow the academic ensemble to include UCL evolutionary biologists, astrophysicists, anthropologists and philosophers."

Impropera was founded in 2000 and emerged from the improvisational work at Opera Circus, the physical opera company set up by David Pearl and Tina Ellen Lee in the mid 90's, who used improv to devise shows (Shameless, Kill Me I Love You, King Stag). This improvisational work was guided by the Director David Glass, inspired by the process of Peter Brook's Bouffes du Nord in Paris and Theatre de Complicité, members of both companies mentored them. Over the years Impropera have performed throughout the UK, mainland Europe and the Middle East. Founder members of the company include the sopranos Morag McClaren and Susan Bissatt as well as Comedy Store and Improbable regular, Niall Ashdown.

For more information visit www.impropera.co.uk.