Scratching the Surface: Opera From Scratch

This just came into my inbox:

Vocalypse Productions

presents

Opera From Scratch
August 20th through 26th, 2012
Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS

For information and applications, go to www.vocalypse.ca

Opera From Scratch is a one week long summer workshop that will help composers and singers develop short operas for solo voice and piano.  Five composers will be paired with five singers as of April 15th, 2012.  Each composer will be expected to complete a new ten minute composition six weeks prior to the August workshop, and each singer will be required to learn it before attending.  Composers will be asked to base their mini-opera on a well known Nova Scotian figure.

During Opera from Scratch, the five mini-operas will be intensively workshopped in private daily sessions with senior composer James Rolfe and singing teacher Lucy Hayes Davis.  A resident pianist will be available for private rehearsals, and master classes will be given by a dramaturge, a theatre director, and a specialist in new music singing.  Composers and singers will be expected to attend each others’ lessons in order to gain insight into their respective creative processes, and all master classes will be available to all participants.

The opening event of Opera from Scratch will be lecture on the history and themes of opera by well known CBC radio host and music educator Adrian Hoffman, and the week will culminate in a free gala public performance of the five newly created works.

Opera from Scratch will emphasize an organic/collaborative process wherein composers and singers are exposed to each others’ working methods.  All will benefit from a better understanding of the depth of thought, creativity, and effort that go into the development of even a short ten minute work.

Opera From Scratch is generously sponsored by the Cultural Activities Program of the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture, and Heritage.