Guerilla Opera Receives $10,000 Innovation Grant

Guerilla Opera has announced that they have been selected as the recipient for the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research Grant from the Institute for Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music. This award will support the world premiere production of Emily Koh's HER | alive.un.dead, a surrealist, sci-fi drama about two Chinese-American women who meet in the afterlife and explores conflicts between their Western upbringing and Chinese culture.

This opera investigates themes of identity and place through exploring familial issues of immigration from the often overlooked multigenerational perspective of Asian women. It will have its full world premiere in collaboration with PAO Arts Center.

This opera's creative team includes composer and librettist Emily Koh with direction from Mo Zhou, and video projection design by Nuozhou Wang. The cast of the opera features soprano Sol Kim Bentley as HER/ Doctor 2, soprano Nina Guo as HER2, Jeannette Lee as Mum/ Nurse/ TWO and Jiayin Shi as Dad/ Doctor/ ONE, and Guerilla Opera ensemble members violinist Lilit Hartunian, cellist Stephen Marotto, saxophonist Philipp Stäudlin, and percussionist Mike Williams.

The Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research is a division of the Institute for Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music. The Center's research and programming emphasizes the 21st Century evolution of the innovative ensemble, influenced by both the symphony orchestra and the chamber music traditions, with a focus on creative, artist-centered ensembles that reflect new models of artistic innovation, organizational relationships, and operational sustainability.

For more information on PRJC Grant Program, visit their website. To learn about upcoming performances and for more information on HER | alive.un.dead visit the Pao Arts Center or Guerilla Opera.

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