On Site Opera Presents World's First Telephone-Based Opera TO MY DISTANT LOVE

On Site Opera, New York's pioneering opera company rooted in site-specific storytelling and the immersive experience, will present To My Distant Love, the world's first telephone-based opera experience, June 18-July 6, 2020.

Featuring Beethoven's influential song cycle An die ferne Geliebte, with text by poet Alois Isidor Jeitteles and additional new English dialogue by Monet Hurst-Mendoza, the company will offer 100 intimate performances for one audience member at a time by a live singer and pianist duo.

The 6-song story of a lovelorn protagonist who laments about absent love, this new immersive opera experience invites one audience member at a time to be "the distant love" to which these songs are sung by either a soprano (Jennifer Zetlan) or baritone (Mario Diaz-Moresco) and pianist (David Shimoni and Spencer Myer, respectively). Jeitteles's stirring meditations on the grief of separation and the hope of reunion speak directly to our current isolation and uncertainty about the future. Uniquely site-specific in nature, the backdrop for this intimate call is up to the discretion of the audience-a park bench, a cozy chair by a window, a drive through the country, or a bustling city street. The immersive experience will begin before the 20-minute performance phone call placed to the ticket holder, as the protagonist will send love letters via email in anticipation of finally re-connecting, setting the stage for love, beauty, longing and deep introspection. Complete with dialogue and interactive conversation, each performance will be completely one of a kind, highlighting the power of live theater despite widespread theater closures.

"During this unprecedented pause, almost every aspect of our lives-even the way we are consuming art- has been through our computer or tablet screens," explains On Site Opera's General and Artistic Director Eric Einhorn. "This production will untether people from their computers and bring back the feeling of live theater, where anything can and will happen," he continues. "We have brought audiences to more than 20 engaging sites across four states in these last 7 seasons. We now invite our audiences to bring us to their favorite sites and be a part of revolutionizing the ways in which opera can be heard, experienced and evolved."

This production of An die ferne Geliebte is being done in honor of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.

Tickets are $40. VIP pre-sale will begin June 8. Tickets will go on sale to the public on June 10 and will be available at https://osopera.org