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Contemporary Opera on Stage: Institutions & Visions

a conference in conjunction with the premiere of

John Adams'Antony and Cleopatra

September 23 & 24

University of California, Berkeley
Morrison Hall

Featuring John Adams, director Elkhanah Pulitzer, and members of the San Francisco Opera

Agenda

SCHEDULE

(updated regularly)

Friday, Sept. 23  

10am

Coffee & Meet

 Morrison 101



10:30am

Welcoming Remarks

 Morrison 125 



11am

Paper Session 1   


Session chair Heather Hadlock

Ryan Ebright  

When Art Worlds Collide: Meredith Monk's Atlas and the Institutional Limits of Operatic Experimentation

 Morrison 125 

Megan 
Steigerwald Ille



12:30pm

Replication, Circulation, Experimentation: U.S. Institutional Frameworks and the Limits of Operatic Reception

Lunch Break



2pm

Robert Wilson's Globality and the Posthistorical Imagination

 Morrison 125 

Paper Session 2   


Session chair Parkorn Wangpaiboonkit


David Gutkin    

Micaela
Baranello

Singing Opera's Museum: New American Opera's Diegetic Arias



3:30pm

Break

 Morrison 101



4pm

John Adams on 
Antony and Cleopatra

 Morrison 125

In conversation with Mary Ann Smart



5pm

Reception

 Morrison 101 & Breezeway

Saturday, Sept. 24 

10am

Coffee & Meet

 Morrison 101



11am

 Morrison 125 

Paper Session 3


Session chair Ian Duncan

Alice
Miller Cotter

 

Fraught Syntax: On the Challenges of Writing About Recent Opera

Emily
Richmond Pollock

“What the hell is wrong with the weather?”: Doctor Atomic at the Santa Fe Opera



12:30pm

Lunch Break



2pm

 Morrison 125 

Panel Session


Staging New Opera and Antony and Cleopatra
Session chairs Mara Lane and Collin Ziegler

Director Elkhanah Pulitzer
Dramaturg Lucia Scheckner
Managing Director: Production Jennifer Good
Production Manager Ryan O'Steen
Scene Shop Foreman John Del Bono
Lighting Designer David Finn
SF Chronicle music critic Joshua Kosman
SFO dramaturg emeritus Kip Cranna



4pm

Reception

 Morrison 101 & Breezeway



4:30pm

Closing Discussion

 Morrison 101

GrandOperaHouse.jpg

San Francisco, 1906: Grand Opera House after the earthquake and fires

Contemporary Opera on Stage: Institutions & Visions

About
 

Co-convenors Mara Lane & Collin Ziegler

This conference interrogates the institutional histories and creative possibilities of contemporary opera, particularly opera staged within the opera house. Recent experiments by groups such as The Industry and Heartbeat Opera have prompted exciting research on site specificity, nonlinear storylines, improvisation, and the revision of canonical works. Complimenting this work, we ask: what social and aesthetic work can be done within the opera house? Crucially, in posing this question, this conference bridges the gap between scholarly considerations and the perspectives of artists, crew members, and audiences.

Mara Lane and Collin Ziegler are PhD students in musicology at the University of California, Berkeley.  Though their research leads in different directions, they both share an interest in contemporary American opera and the future of the art form. They  are grateful to the presenters and members of the SFO team for joining them. They want especially to thank Mary Ann Smart for guiding them  through this process from the very beginning. 

Opera Studies & Praxis

 An essential sponsor of the conference, Opera Studies & Praxis is a registered student organization at UC Berkeley, created by musicology students, that brings together opera scholars, theater practitioners, musicians, and composers to explore the challenges and opportunities facing opera performance today. We organize conferences and facilitate discussions on contemporary opera practices; we also stage small-scale operas and similar works in scholarly-informed ways.

Thank you to our sponsors:

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Attending

Address

Rooms 101 & 125

Morrison Hall 

Berkeley, CA 94720

Accessibility & Parking

Open to the public and free to attend!

​

Morrison Hall is located near the corner of Bancroft Way & College Ave and accessible along bus lines 51B, 79, and 604.

​

Limited parking is available at the Bancroft Parking Structure and Lower Sproul Garage due to the Cal football game on Saturday.

Contact Us

Co-conveners:

Mara Lane

Collin Ziegler

​

Covid-19 Safety:

Per the policies of UC- Berkeley, masks are highly encouraged indoors

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