Alter Ego Chamber Opera: Workshop and Premiere with Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2022 --
Seeking Classically-Trained Singer-Actors/Opera Singers with excellent musicianship for the Baritone and Bass-Baritone Roles: POC and those from Middle Eastern Descent.
Alter Ego Chamber Opera, a Philadelphia-based chamber opera company now in its fourth season, recently regarded as a boundary-pushing company by the Broad Street Review, is seeking four singers for the workshop and world premiere of Nasrin - Censored, an opera by Composer Ramin Akhavijou and Librettist Brandy N. Carie.
SYNOPSIS: Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian political activist renowned for her unwavering commitment to human rights and democracy. She was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 38 years in jail and 148 lashes for defending women protesting Iran's obligatory hijab law. This multimedia opera uses Nasrin’s words as a text, while also
demonstrating censorship as a process experienced by both the performers and the audience throughout the piece. The opera addresses additional themes of gender, human rights, and sociocultural issues, incorporating real-life footage and soundscape of Nasrin, as well as fresh interviews with activists, feminists, and opera singers.
The workshop will take place in Philadelphia between May 30th-June 5th, 2022, with a final invited presentation on June 5th.
The performance will take place in September or early October (dates being finalized) as part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, 2022, with chamber orchestra and full staging and costumes.
Role Breakdown:
Nasrin Sotoudeh - [soprano or mezzo-soprano capable of extended vocal techniques]
Reza / Camera Operator - [baritone]
Narges / Mehraveh / Iran’s Daughter [mezzo-soprano or contralto]
Government Official / Police / Interviewer [bass]
While we are generally interested in hearing from singers of any background for future reference and collaboration with AECO, for this work we have a preference to cast singers who have strong ties to Iran, or connection to this specific heritage and story including but not limited to: Iranian singers, singers who speak Farsi, singers originating from/having ancestry from Middle Eastern nations, particularly for the role of Nasrin Sotoudeh, and those who have studied the country and culture or worked there, traveled there extensively, etc. Secondarily, we will be considering singers who can conceivably portray these roles, physically.
For more information about the life of Nasrin Sotoudeh, you can read about her here (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrin_Sotoudeh) or view this film:
https://www.nasrinfilm.com/watch.
Singer-Actors within commuting distance to Philadelphia strongly preferred.
Payment will be provided for both the workshop and September premiere.
The anticipated fee for the workshop is $500 per artist. The payment for the September premiere is separate, and will be negotiated with the artist.
Artists should currently be available for both phases of the project (May/June and August/Sept/Beginning of Oct 2022), so that we can maintain the same cast members throughout the entire process.
For consideration, please complete this application form (
https://forms.gle/1iJMNT1TykhdVNA76) prepare a video containing two contrasting (or portions of, with a minimum of 2 mins each) works:
-Lyrical and expressive
-Atonal or avant-garde - 21st century preferred if possible.
Candidates are desired to have excellent English diction and acting, and should represent this in the video samples. For candidates who speak Farsi, one submission in Farsi is welcomed but not required.
The excerpts need not be opera. If the candidate's best samples are of art song/etc. this is all welcomed, so long as the excerpts capture the above desired styles.
*NOTE: If you do not have recordings that meet the requested styles, send your two best recordings*
Please submit the above recordings along with this application form (
https://forms.gle/1iJMNT1TykhdVNA76), and attaching your Resume and Headshot ASAP, but by March 22nd, 2022 at the latest.
Please reach out to
AlterEgoChamberOpera@gmail.com with any questions.
www.AlterEgoChamberOpera.org
Videos
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