Invitation to participate

Following a first experience in 2004-2005, Opéra de Montréal (OdM) and the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) have decided to program three (3) technOpéra events for the 2005-2006 season.

The technOpéra events are a series of experimental performances that are the result of a collaboration between one (1) or two (2) video jockeys, one (1) or two (2) new media musicians and at least two (2) opera singers from the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal.

The artists develop a creative and original concept inspired by some specific themes of the respective operas that serve as the basis for each technOpéra. The objective is to explore themes from the operas with tools and artistic approaches from the new media universe. There will be a minimum of three meetings and two dress rehearsals to prepare each event. The artists will develop their concepts outside of those meetings on their own time.

The artists are expected to prepare original creative material for a performance of at least 45 minutes and no longer than 1 hour and 30 minutes.

When will the events be held?

All events are held at the SAT as part of the SAT[MixSessions] programming and start at 7:30pm. They are preceded by a brief introduction. The doors open at 6 pm. The events are offered for free to the OdM 18-30 subscribers and active SAT members and for a ticket fee to the general public. [MixSessions] artists will animate the Café after the end of the show.

Where will the events be held?
At the SAT, 1195 St. Laurent Boulevard (between Ste.Catherine and René-Lévesque)

Submission of proposals
Artists must submit a proposal as a team of at least three people one (1) or two (2) video jockey and one (1) or two (2) new media musicians by the indicated deadline. Artists can choose to work as a larger team. The proposal should not exceed two (2) written pages. The artistic team must provide visual and sound samples of their previous work and a portfolio of their accomplishments.

Deadline for submission of proposal

The proposals have to be received at the Opéra de Montréal offices by 5pm on the respective days at:
Opéra de Montréal
c/o Geneviève Rivard – Special Projects Coordinator
260, boul. de Maisonneuve West
Montreal (QC) H2X 1Y9

Announcement of selected teams

Selection process
An artistic committee of SAT and OdM professionals will review each proposal and choose the artistic teams based on the following general criteria:
– originality of the concept
– connection between the concept and the original opera
– motives for wanting to do the project
– CV
– audio and video demo (DVD/CD) of a maximum length of five (5) minutes

Resources for the artistic team
– A residency at the SAT (4 days of access to the SAT studios and equipment)
– Use of the SAT space and equipment for the performance
– Use of the SAT space and equipment for two (2) dress rehearsals
– Support by the SAT technicians in the set-up and running of the event
– Cachet: a total of $1, 950 per new media team
– $1, 200 per team for the preparation of the event
– $ 750 per team for the performance
– At least two professional opera singers from the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal will be working with each new media team in the creation and presentation of the technOpéra event.
– A specialist from the OdM will accompany each team as a counsellor for the staging of the event (for examples: the staging of the Atelier lyrique singers in the SAT space during the performance; a sounding board regarding the refinement of the concept based on the opera)
– A pair of tickets for each member of the artistic team to attend the opera presentation that is the source of inspiration

Planned meetings*
– Introduction to the project Purpose: introduce the team to the opera and to the lyric singers
Timeframe: the week after the announcement of the team
Location: SAT or OdM offices

– 1st concept meeting Purpose : discussion and validation of the concept with the OdM professionals from the Selection Committee
Timeframe: 5 to 6 weeks prior to the event
Location: SAT or OdM offices

– 2nd concept meeting Purpose : discussion and validation of the concept with the OdM
& technical meeting professionals from the Selection Committee and the technical team
Timeframe: 2 to 3 weeks prior to the event
Location: SAT or OdM offices

– 1st dress rehearsal Purpose: run-through of the artistic exploration in the SAT space with the basic equipment in place, but not a full set-up. The objective is for all the artists to see how the work will evolve in the space and to finalize the placement and movement of the artists;
Timeframe: the Monday prior to each event (during the day)
Location: SAT hall

– 2nd dress rehearsal Purpose: run-through of the show in the full set-up
Timeframe: The day of the event from 1pm to 5pm
Location: SAT hall
*This schedule is tentative and will be confirmed with each team.

Description of each opera

L’étoile, Emmanuel Chabrier

O little star… tell me the future! The naively self-assured King Ouf I customarily celebrates his birthday with a public execution. The year’s selected victim, a young peddler, escapes his punishment thanks to an astrologer’s prediction, and goes on to ridicule the king by seducing his royal fiancée. Operetta at its best!

L’étoile is one of the jewels of the 19th century French opera repertoire.

For further information on the artist and the opera: http://www.classicalarchives.com/bios/codm/chabrier.html

Oedipus Rex, Igor Stravinsky

I have lain with whom divine law forbade, I have slain whom divine law forbade. In order to save the inhabitants of Thebes from pestilence, King Oedipus consults an oracle. It is then that he learns that he himself is responsible for the plague, for he had unknowingly killed his father, the former king of Thebes, and married his mother, Jocasta. In light of this revelation, Jocasta hangs herself and the incestuous, parricidal Oedipus puts out his eyes. Oedipus, the ultimate taboo… mythologized by the Greeks and used by Freud as the basis for psychoanalysis. Oedipus Rex… an ancient tragedy, brilliantly updated, where “pestilence” equals “AIDS.”

Oedipus is nowadays most renowned for having dealt with parricide and incest, the absolute and ultimate taboos, on which Freud based his psychoanalysis. But in this 20th century opera-oratorio, after Sophocles, Jean Cocteau’s libretto intelligently updates the ancient Greek story and shows how relevant it still is.

For further information on the artist and the opera: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/3660/oedipus.html

Turn of the Screw, Benjamin Britten
(Librettist: Mary Myfanwy Evans)

Is this sheltered place the wicked world where things unspoken of can be? In an old manor, two children are under the spell of two ghosts – their former manservant and their former governess. Into their world comes a devoted new governess who tries to act as a screen against the evil spell which, nonetheless, proves fatal to one of the children. An atmosphere of anxiety, punctuated by childish naivety. Turn of the Screw… Britten’s tender lyricism lends itself to Henry James’s bewitching, oft-filmed, novel.

For further information on the artist and the opera: http://opera.stanford.edu/Britten/
http://www.allaboutopera.com/opera_resources.php?opera_ndx=105