Opera Creation Journey #2

Femenine / Masculin

Femenine / Masculin [working title] is a new performance work at the intersection of dance, music, and visual art exploring the music and legacy of Julius Eastman. Channeling the singular voice of Eastman, a queer, African-American composer who died in 1990, artists and choreographers Gerard & Kelly (France/USA) collaborate with writer Penda Diouf (France/Senegal) to extend his boundary-crossing practice into a contemporary opera installation.

Creative team:

Brennan Gerard & Ryan Kelly - co-directors and choreographers

Penda Diouf - dramaturge and librettiste

Grace Mugabe, The Opera

Grace Mugabe says she can hear her husband from the grave. She also says she embodies the spirit of the Zimbabwean liberation warrior and spirit medium Nehanda, and so, cannot die but must instead ascend to the ancestral realm. For this, she needs the help of her people, The Povo. The snag is that none of them like her, not enough to dance this difficult and long-forgotten ritual. Where can she turn?

A thrilling new opera about one of the most controversial modern female figures in African and International Politics. Dubbed “Gucci Grace” by Western media for her exhaustive shopping sprees, she has been both celebrated and vilified, and joins the ranks of powerful female figures such as Elena Ceausescu, Imelda Marcos, Melania Trump and Lady Macbeth. How do we view strong women in relation to the actions of the powerful men they sit beside? And what happens when one such woman refuses to let society define her?

Creative team:

Tonderai Munyevu - librettist and director

Rina Mushonga - composer

Woman & Machine

Woman & Machine tells the story of the three months artist Eska Mtungwazi spent in King’s College Hospital neonatal unit when her daughter was born at just 26 weeks.

This ground-breaking binaural opera will explore the connections between women and machinery and connect audiences through sound in a voyage back to our origins. Incorporating the sonic worlds of neonatal units and the womb, it will centre characters rarely seen in opera and explore the untold stories that continually cross paths in the neonatal unit.

Settings from Eska's past will entwine with her daughter’s story, as we follow the story of Eska’s life and ancestry, tracing her Zimbabwean heritage and exploring themes of life, death, medicalisation, womanhood, and motherhood.

Creative team:

Eska Mtungwazi - creator, composer and librettist

Kirsty Housley - co-creator, director and librettist

Zeki

The opera delves into the life, significance and tragic death of iconic Turkish singer Zeki Müren (1931-1996). His exquisite singing mesmerized the whole nation, who then turned a blind eye to his brave gay flamboyance: a remarkable case of “Don’t ask, don’t tell”. It is the story of how a free soul and true art can transcend conservatism and prejudice.    

Creative team:

Utku Asuroglu - composer

Marcel Beekman - tenor

Sinan Vural - singer and creator

Frank Siera - librettist