OPERA America has introduced the winners of the 2024 Awards for Digital Excellence in Opera, which rejoice current initiatives by both people or organizations in Canada and the US. Two Canadian initiatives have come house with the honours, together with The Bicycle Venture and their movie Sweat, and Opera 5’s Threepenny Submarine internet sequence.
“By crafting initiatives particularly for the display screen, the winners of the 2024 awards discover the collaborative potential of opera and digital creation,” says Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America in an announcement. “Their work demonstrates how mixing disciplines can result in daring improvements that captivate and encourage audiences in new methods.”
4 awards got throughout three completely different classes, recognizing Creative Creation, Schooling/Enrichment Supplies, and Noteworthy Tasks. The OPERA America initiative is supported by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Basis.
And the winners are…
Greater than 30 organizations and people submitted functions for the award. The finalists have been chosen from a brief lists of 11 which included initiatives from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Dallas Opera, and different outstanding organizations.
The jury of impartial specialists consists of award successful composers David T. Little and Rebecca Grey, and 2022 Award for Digital Excellence in Opera winner Maria Sensi Sellner, amongst others.
Class: Creative Creation
- Sweat, a movie by The Bicycle Opera Venture (Produced by Larissa Koniuk and Jennifer Nichols
Class: Schooling/Enrichment Supplies
- A Pocket Magic Flute (Produced by Pocket Opera and the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre)
Class: Noteworthy Tasks
- Everest: An Immersive Expertise (Produced by Brian Staufenbiel and Nicole Paiement of San Francisco primarily based Opera Parallèle)
- Threepenny Submarine Season 1 (Produced by Opera 5 and Gazelle Automations)
You possibly can watch all of the finalist initiatives together with the winners on-line [HERE]. Word that streaming is on the market by way of March 3, 2025, for all finalists, and thru June 2, 2025, for the winners.
Toronto Winners
Two of the winners are Toronto-based indie opera firms.
Sweat: a movie by The Bicycle Opera Venture
Produced by Larissa Koniuk and Jennifer Nichols
Winner: Creative Creation
Sweat premiered again in 2017 as a touring manufacturing of a 70-minute a cappella opera by Juliet Palmer and Anna Chatterton. It performed 14 exhibits in 9 cities, incorporating a residency at Ottawa Chamberfest. For the movie adaptation, Bicycle’s Creative Director Larissa Koniuk collaborated with director/choreographer Jennifer Nichols. With a miniscule funds, however an atmospheric locale, the movie and the work successfully convey the cruel situations of sweatshops all over the world, each previous and current. In a singular contact, the performers embody not solely the employees, however the machines themselves. It was shot in historic industrial areas in Hamilton and Kingston, Ontario, and premiered on the Kingston Canadian Movie Pageant. It might go on to win Finest Narrative Function on the LA Unbiased Ladies Movie Awards.
Threepenny Submarine Season 1
Produced by Opera 5 and Gazelle Automations
Winner: Noteworthy Tasks
Threepenny Submarine is designed for teenagers and their households to enter into the world of opera. Opera 5 partnered with award-winning Gazelle Automations, a movie manufacturing firm that makes a speciality of puppets, mannequin miniatures, and animation. The online-based sequence combines puppets and animation in an unique story about two junior officers within the Trifecta Fleet. Iona the cockatiel and Lydian the vixen take the Threepenny Submarine to discover the deep areas of the ocean close to a mysterious sector referred to as Salieri. They meet up with sea creatures who make a sound like a flute, and the story takes flight. Studying about opera comes as a part of the pure stream of the story and its participating characters. Authentic music by Canadian composers Cecilia Livingston and Ryan Trew is featured within the remaining two episodes.
Congratulations to the revolutionary Canadian firms. Toronto’s indie opera scene is a vibrant and thrilling one.
OPERA America was based in 1970. Discover out extra about their applications right here.
Are you seeking to promote an occasion? Have a information tip? Must know one of the best occasions taking place this weekend? Ship us a notice.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the every day arts information straight to your inbox.
Join the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — native classical music and opera information straight to your inbox HERE.
Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher.
