La voix humaine (The Human Voice), is an opera that follows one side of a harsh phone call between two current lovers of five years. At the beginning of the piece we meet "Elle" waiting for the phone to ring, something that should have happened days ago. When it finally does, she  attempts to reason with her lover. As Elle paces around her apartment, the conversation becomes more desperate with each turn. M.O.I. plans to highlight this journey through an added immersive element which will leave the audience with Elle at the end of the call, knotted in an emotional web incapable of escaping.

M.O.I. was drawn to perform La voix humaine now to explore the modern social trend of how, in the digital age, we turn to self-isolation as a form of protection / holistic practice. 

Starring soprano Jamila Drecker-Waxman, La voix humaine will be presented at the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research the first week of January, 2026. In November 2025, the project will travel to Kaatsbaan Cultural Park to participate in a Weekend Residency. 

This performance marks the inaugural production of the Modernized Opera Initiative (M.O.I., pronounced mwah), a collective of early career artists seeking to recontextualize and reinvigorate the opera canon. Director Kira Weaver reflects, "Until this past June, La voix humaine was just an idea I kept to myself, a secret project I would think about working on when I finally had the agency to do so. Recently, I had the realization that I already have that agency." By supporting this project, you are encouraging early career theater and opera professionals (directors, designers, producers, musicians) to take the leap to launch their own work. Notably, La voix humaine marks the first opera at the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research.

Get to know the team:

Artistic / Stage Director: Kira Weaver (She/her)

Kira is an Opera / Theater Collaborator based in Brooklyn, NY. Kira first discovered her joy for storytelling through physical performance art while earning her Bachelor’s of Music at Berklee College of Music, where she Assistant Directed a production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Huntington as her senior capstone project. Kira feels her largest purpose is to help physicalize known work in a new context, paving the way to hold new conversations between audiences / artists. This past spring she completed an Apprenticeship at The Juilliard School and joined the staging staff at The Glimmerglass Festival for their 50th season. In her 2025 - 2026 season she looks forward to working on projects at The Juilliard School, Yale Opera, Brooklyn Center For Theatre Research, Oberlin Conservatory, and The Atlanta Opera.  She has also previously completed Apprenticeships at Wolf Trap Opera, Boston Ballet, and The Santa Fe Opera. 

Alex Wolf is a Brooklyn-based Executive Assistant and independent Producer with more than five years of experience spanning major studios and artist-led companies, including Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+, Disney, Hartbeat, and Artists First. In 2024 he joined the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research, where he has served across administration, stage management, and producing on projects such as Over the Moon, The Jag, Doomers, There Are No Diving Pools in Hell, Zoomers and more. Alex is also the co-founder of Birthday Cat, a boutique production company dedicated to independent theatre and film. Recent producing credits include She Keeps Me Young, Fellas, Thumper, Delivery Boy, Screaming Laughing, Baby?, and The Bronze Dog. Wolf engineers compact, efficient shoots with artistic execution, pairing orderly logistics with a safe runway for ambitious ideas.

Veronica Zimmer is a producer and arts administrator working at the intersection of opera and musical theater. She is currently the Associate Producer to composer Jeanine Tesori. Veronica collaborates with Lincoln Center staff to produce Tesori’s Visionary Artist programming, in addition to supporting upcoming workshops of Coal Miner’s Daughter (feat. music by Loretta Lynn) and the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Veronica is also the Associate Producer for Beth Morrison Project’s BMP: SONGBOOK Concert. 

Veronica has completed two apprenticeships at the Glimmerglass Festival, her first in Communications and her most recent in Artistic Administration. She was a Production Intern at the 2025 PROTOTYPE Festival. Veronica holds a BA in American Studies from Yale College, where she produced the inaugural operatic collaboration between Yale College and Yale Opera at the Yale School of Music, the world premiere of Darwin en Patagonia (Fernández/Golombek). 

German-American Soprano Jamila Drecker-Waxman is a New York City native known for her rich tone and vibrant performances in operatic, concert, and recital settings. In 2025, Jamila joined Sarasota Opera, Central City Opera, and Florentine Opera in their respective young artist programs performing the roles of Zerlina, Shepherd Boy, Soprano 2 (The Knock), and covering the roles of La Contessa, Donna Anna, Antonia, Stella, Giulietta, Berta,  and Jo Jenner (The Knock).
During the 2023-2024 season, Jamila was named the Boston District Winner at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and completed the Central City Opera Training Artist Program where she was honored with the John Moriarty Award. She also returned to Opera Maine, where she was a Studio Artist in 2023, to perform in the Opera Maine Gala.

While pursuing a Master of Music from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Jamila performed the roles of Susannah (Susannah), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), and Governess (The Turn of the Screw), and was awarded a grant to produce and star in a film of La voix humaine, a role she reprised at the Alliance Française shortly thereafter. Her other recent engagements include the role of Mimì at the Bay View Music Festival, as well as the roles of Pamina and Noémie at Opera in the Ozarks. 

Pianist and vocal coach Daniel Weber is a second-year Baumgartner Studio Artist with the Florentine Opera, where he has worked as a member of the music staff on Madama Butterfly, Acis and Galatea, Viva La Mamma, and Carmen. This season, he is looking forward to returning to serve on the music staff for Don Giovanni, Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Tosca. He has previously served as pianist and coach for The Magic Flute and L’elisir d’amore at the Brevard Music Center, Don Giovanni and Brigadoon at the Seagle Festival, Orphée aux enfers at Opera in the Ozarks, and La bohème at La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy. An avid recitalist and advocate for new music and interdisciplinary performances, he has performed and staged Hugo Wolf’s complete Italienisches Liederbuch and served on the music staff for the orchestral workshop of David Hanlon’s The Pigeon Keeper under the auspices of the University of Michigan and Santa Fe Opera. Daniel completed his Master of Music in Collaborative Piano as a student of Martin Katz at the University of Michigan, and is also an alumnus of Florida State University and the Collaborative Piano Institute.

 

Madeleine Rubin-Charlesworth (Set Design) is a Brooklyn-based artist and designer with a specialization in immersive productions. Since graduating from Pomona College in 2023 with a degree in Studio Art and Media Studies, she has held myriad creative positions across art, design, TV, film, fashion, and theatre. For much of the last year, she helped build and maintain Life & Trust – an 84-room-Victorian-period-piece successor of Sleep No More – as a member of its Props & Scenic team for the duration of its run. She has since brought her love of immersive and elaborate set design to the indie scene, and this will be the fourth production she has designed at the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research. Nothing brings her more joy than collaborating with her community to make meaningful and innovative art.

E. Lieu Wolhardt (they/them) is a multi-cultural/multi-media/multi-disciplinary artist. They are a lighting and projection designer based out of Washington DC, having recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in Drama and Additional Major in Global Studies. They are passionate about music and dramaturgy driven design, as well as interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaboration. Recent credits include: Young Playwrights Festival (Projections Design), Suite Life (Lighting/Co-Projection Design).

Costume Designer: Mila Livoni Zidel (She/her)

Mila Livoni Zidel is a New York–based costume designer whose work spans theater and opera. She recently served as costume designer for Little Murders at Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research (BCTR), assistant designer for Beast of Hungary at The Juilliard School, and associate designer for Urinetown at The Berkeley Carroll School. Her past credits include serving as a Costume Design Apprentice at The Juilliard School and a Costume Apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera. Mila brings a sharp eye for detail, a collaborative spirit, and a passion for storytelling through clothing to every project she undertakes.

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