Are you an artist, arts organization or venue?

organization

What town do you live in?

Easthampton

In which disciplines do you work or exhibit?

Performance, Dance, Theater, Words, Sound/Music

Artist Statement/Bio

Alchemical Opera Project is dedicated to the radical evolution of Western Opera. Using operatic and classical musical material recontextualized, Alchemical Opera Project's goal is the creation of new, more vulnerable forms of opera theatre - intimate aural and visual spectacles developed through the alchemical reaction of operatic vocalism with poetry, movement, and design.
In the pursuit of a unique performer-audience relationship, Alchemical Opera Project creates work using both essentialized forces and content. Alchemical Opera Project's works are conceived for solo vocal performer with instrumental accompaniment. This reduction to the vital allows for an exploration of what is opera's fundamental essence: the ability of the voice to express with immediacy the depth of human experience.
Alchemical Opera Project believes in the autonomy of musical artists to dialogue with canonized musical material, to break its structure, and transform it. Music is used as source material in movement based improvisation, the cornerstone of Alchemical Opera Project's creative process; as a result, the music is metamorphosed in it's developing relationships to action and story. Text and melodies appear in works both in their original and enhanced forms. In the final stages of development, musical collaborators then work together with the initial creator to create accompaniment and musical form.

Describe your organization or gallery

Alchemical Opera Project is a collaboration between Easthampton-based performer Todd Trebour and his musical collaborator, Toronto-based cellist Rachel Capon. Alchemical Opera Project is currently developing "Come and Sleep: An Operatic Fantasy for Voice, Cello, and Silence." Initially performed in a 15-minute version at Toronto's Cooking Fire Theatre Festival in June, "Come and Sleep" was recently performed in a 25-minute version at Montview Neighborhood Farm October 2010. A full-length, 45-minute version will be premiered to the Valley community this April. For more information, please see our website.

Website

http://www.alchemicaloperaproject.org