Programme:
Illusions (Choir) by Linas Baltas.
Lampedusa (Opera in 3 acts. Choir, Mezzo-soprano, Bass and Electronics) by Eduardo R. Miranda, Libretto: Eduardo R. Miranda & David J. Peterson, Director: Victor Ladron de Guevara, Choreographer: Josh Slater, Dancer (Ariel): Hayley Bentley, Soprano (Sycorax): Emma Tring, Bass (Caliban): Edward Price.
Neuroscience tells us that our perception of reality are constructions of the brain. Sounds are fabrications of our mind and music is an illusion. Linas’ Illusions is inspired by the intriguing notion that our brain can listen to sonic properties that seem to pop up out from nowhere. Yet, these properties do not show up when we analyse recordings of the actual sounds.
Eduardo’s opera Lampedusa is set in a parallel Shakespearean universe. The plot takes place before the arrival of Prospero and Miranda in Lampedusa, allegedly the island portrayed in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. The opera tells the story of Sycorax, a refugee from Europe, her son, Caliban, and Ariel. Ariel is an invisible native inhabitant who objects Caliban’s ambitions of reigning over the island. Lampedusa includes materials composed with an unprecedented piece of software developed at ICCMR. It renders high-energy particles collision data from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider into sounds and music. The libretto is in the imaginary island’s language Vōv, created by celebrated language inventor David J. Peterson.
Read about the opera Lampedusa: Behind the Curtain