2023-24 Academic Catalog

Opera has something for everyone: drama, desire, politics, stagecraft, design. The medium sets life to music and reveals the music within people’s lives. In the spirit of exchange between art and reality, this course looks at the history of opera through a contemporary lens. Centering on a diverse collection of operas—and voices—from past to present, we’ll ask how modern sensibilities animate the music’s production and performance. We’ll bring concepts of relevance, risk, representation, and justice to bear on opera, with attention to media and technology. We’ll listen to recent operatic interpretations and discover how creatives are making opera new. Prerequisite: None, ability to read music is not necessary