Over the last term, four new composers successfully completed the first stage in the opera composition workshop under mentorship by IBOC’s Artistic Director João MacDowell.

The requirements for the work include:

1 – Pitching an idea for a work that can be engaging and meaningful to a contemporary opera company.

2 – Developing a dramatic setting and a character for a soprano role.

3 – Writing the text for the aria. A composer is expected to be able to act as a librettist and a proficient editor of librettos from other collaborators.

4 – Writing engaging melodic material that brings the audience into the work.

5 – Write a full aria that demonstrates an understanding of the range and tessitura of the solo soprano voice.

6 – Produce an instrumental track with contemporary digital tools to demo the sonic universe of the work.

7 – Develop an outline of the full opera that includes a structural description of how it will engage and balance its musical elements throughout the composition.

8 – Produce a video score of the demoed aria.

Works by Yuval Medina, Leah Ofman, Sarah Wald, and Sombrio da Silva:

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Who Did This to Me

Yuval Medina (Israel)

An aria for the opera Shelter in Place.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Conner – performed by a soprano in a pants role – the archetypical famous podcast host well-known for his antics and outspoken views, is slowly driven insane from isolation during lockdowns. He goes down internet rabbit holes, becomes an anti-vaxxer, and is slowly but surely ostracized from society as he turns to the alt-right.

This work was developed under the Seeding New Operas program by the International Brazilian Opera – IBOC Institute. Featuring soprano Adriana Valdez. Produced by Yuval Medina and João MacDowell.

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I Can Try

Leah Ofman (USA)

An aria for the opera  I Can Try 

In Renaissance Italy, shared visions and an increasingly intense relationship tear at the fabric of reality for two young nuns, Giulia and Devota, as Giulia rises to power and infamy. Devota sings this aria to Giulia after the results of an inquisition make it clear the two will never see each other again.

This work was developed under the Seeding New Operas program by the International Brazilian Opera – IBOC Institute. Featuring soprano Adriana Valdez. Produced by Leah Ofman and João MacDowell.

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Empress Matilda

Sarah Wald (USA)

An aria for the opera  Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda is a free adaptation of Luigi Pirandello’s Henry IV. The title character is a woman who, while reenacting Empress Matilda’s struggle for the English throne, suffers a head injury and wakes up believing that she is Empress Matilda in the year 1143. Two of her friends enlist the help of a quack doctor to bring her back to the present day. Matilda later reveals her awareness that her current life is a facade, but her overall lucidity is still in question. The doctor’s plan eventually goes awry, and the final scene is chaos.

This work was developed under the Seeding New Operas program by the International Brazilian Opera – IBOC Institute. Featuring soprano Adriana Valdez. Produced by Sarah Wald and João MacDowell.

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Abandoned Bridges

Sombrio da Silva (Brazil)

An aria from the opera Breaking Perfect Shackles with Imperfect Decisions

An intimate story about love and the struggle to make sense of life through the eyes of Clara, a Brazillian writer in her early 30s. A hopeless romantic since her teenage years, she finds herself in a very vulnerable position after going through a violent divorce and is forced to reevaluate her values and priorities.

By Sombrio da Silva. This work was developed under the Seeding New Operas program by the International Brazilian Opera – IBOC Institute. Featuring soprano Adriana Valdez. Produced by Sombrio da Silva and João MacDowell.

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Upcoming Composition Immersion with João MacDowell