Stories through Sound
Contemporary Opera and New Music
Experience powerful stories from around the world, told through music.
This is music that challenges stereotypes, confronts power imbalances and brings new perspectives into the light – from an enchanting new project that explores of the extraordinary life of Sufi mystic Rumi; to an 'AfrOpera' that deals with colonialism and cultural appropriation; a dazzling song-cycle about ancestry and injustice from an all-indigenous Australian youth choir; and an opera that takes themes from Puccini's Madama Butterfly and turns them on their head.
Events
Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly
A smash-hit Broadway play turned movie, David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly metamorphoses into music theatre as the UK premiere of Huang Ruo’s operatic reworking takes wing.
The Golden Stool, or the story of Nana Yaa Asantewaa
Interweaving singing, dance, and cutting-edge theatre, Gorges Ocloo’s ground-breaking AfrOpera re-examines Nana Yaa Asantewaa’s defiant stance against colonialism and cultural appropriation.
Spinifex Gum
An all-indigenous female youth choir with dance, visuals, plus a visceral song cycle about ancestry and stewardship. The result? The dazzling phenomenon that is Spinifex Gum.
Hildegard Transfigured: Medieval Trance for the 21st Century
The soaring, timeless 12th century arabesques of Hildegard of Bingen meet 21st century transfiguration in Voice Trio’s intimate and illuminating portrait.
Rolf Hind: Sky in a Small Cage
Direct from the Copenhagen Opera Festival, Mahogany Opera opens our season with the UK premiere of Rolf Hind’s much-anticipated new work inspired by the influential Sufi mystic and poet, Rumi.
