This journey began with the creation of
the first-ever LaptOpera,
The Furies for live vocalists and laptop orchestra commissioned by the
Stanford Laptop Orchestra. The evening-length opera premiered Nov. 11-13, 2022 at
Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. The artistic medium of the laptop orchestra recast the traditional instrumental role in a new kind of operatic medium (the “laptopera”) that reimagined the potential of instrument-building to support dramatic elements and character relationships -- while simultaneously positing critical questions about technology in our lives today.
With the success of
The Furies, the LaptOpera team is continuing to create and grow this
new artistic medium. We are organizing an east coast tour of
The Furies: A LaptOpera for the fall of 2024 and a second opera is in the works!
In collaboration and as a co-production with artist
Kim Anno and her non-profit
Wild Projects, the second opera will be a reimagining of the Orpheus myth, exploring technology's role in how we connect with one another. With my instrument building team including
Daniel Iglesia and
Curtis Ullerich, will work to expand my
Tape Machine instrument (as Orpheus's lyre) and
the Rope instrument (as a kind of hoop skirt for Eurydice). Weaving together live video input, light input, and force sensitive resistors, this instrument will exist as an acoustic space with resonant walls, a sounding space where the touch of the walls and movement within the space trigger and control the soundscape, and a psychological space where “passage through” is a metaphor for transition and the opportunity to change. Instrument design (phase one) of the opera will conclude in the spring of 2025 with interactive public demonstrations and performances of short excerpts of the final opera by soloists and LaptOpera specialists
Shauna Fallihee and
Sidney Chen. The production of the full opera, or phase 2, will begin in the fall of 2025 and conclude with the second laptOpera premiere in 2026!
Learn More: https://www.annehege.com/