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MULTIMEDIA SAI Launches Virtual Opera Project Sabrina Peña Young L by ibertaria: The Virtual Opera haunted me for years, swimming about in my head as snippets of musical motifs and unfinished science fiction plots. Embarking on this all-encompassing creative endeavor spurs me towards megalomaniac fervor. Birthing an opera from nothing transforms a composer into creator, auteur, dictator, and even executioner. The composer labors countless hours perfecting words which vanish in a single beat, devising twisted sympathetic characters doomed to a dramatic existence more extreme than the most sordid reality shows, and constructing meaningful and memorable music out of the nothingness of the imagination. Imagine earth in early 22nd century, limping along in a forced peace after revolutions, war, nuclear fall-out, sterility, and disease decimated humanity. The sole winners of the failed nuclear race, totalitarian regimes and multi-trillion dollar corporations, unite to save humanity through biotechnology and terror. Enters in the teenage misfit Libertaria, a fugitive of unknown origin found as an infant in an abandoned Nueva York souvenir shop by the immortal vagrant Simeon. Libertaria: The Virtual Opera follows Libertaria as she searches for the mother-figure snatched away by the omnipresent Collective and evolves into the Savior of the innocent. More than a fantastic morality play, Libertaria: The Virtual Opera uses biblical allegory, riveting animation, and a thought-provoking score to tell a mirrored tale of our own times. Scoring Libertaria: The Virtual Opera closely resembles film scoring, with complex storyboards, cue sheets, and a screenplay. Libertaria is virtual. Vocal synthesis and sampled choirs mix with the recordings of cast members selected through internet auditions. Computer animated fantasy characters in a digitally composited world perform on a video stage. Cast members record their vocals in their separate locations without the benefit of personal interaction with other cast members, and most cast members perform multiple roles, their voices digitally altered. CLICK FOR MORE 12 The musical inspiration behind Libertaria combines sound synthesis, traditional choral music and chant, and contemporary electronica with prerecorded vocals and vocal synthesis. Keeping to the futuristic nature of the opera, vocals in Libertaria include natural, unprocessed vocal tracks from the cast, vocally synthesized choir samples, and purposely computerized voices to further contrast the cold mechanical with the warmth of humanity. The score regularly exploits technology. For example, Gabe, a middle-aged minor character who serves as a figure of compassion and reason suffered an accident during his time in service that severed his larynx and left him to use a computerized voice box for the rest of his life. Gabe's character provides a positive counterexample to the more ominous uses of invention integral to the entire operatic plot. Regular flashbacks also employ almost a robotic Greek chorus which coldly narrates the action in minimalist musical motifs. Because Libertaria is in film form, the libretto includes the inward thoughts of the characters, surreal dream states, and voiceover narration that would be difficult for a live stage performance. Quick cut scenes and montage slowly build up the historical narrative behind each character, and the cinematic techniques of Trouffeu, Chaplin, Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Spielberg are employed throughout. The animation techniques used for Libertaria rely less on the flashiness of a typical Disney animation and instead reflect more closely the Freudian ideas prevalent in cinema during the early part of the 20th century, contemporary computer art, as well as stolen visuals from prominent political posters of the 1960s and 1970s. Libertaria almost resembles a visual suite, where the eyes and mind can feast on the nuances and double meanings of every scene. Scheduled for first screenings in summer 2012 at several music festivals and art spaces, Libertaria: The Virtual Opera will also broadcast online, with hopes of reaching an international audience outside the usual opera fan demographic. Libertaria: The Virtual Opera's cast to date includes actors and singers on both sides of the Atlantic, including British baritone Allan Smith playing the male lead Simeon, Daytonbased Mezzo Soprano Christina Sidaras playing Libertaria, and Puerto Rican musical theater actress Gretchen Suarez-Peña. Most cast members play several roles, with lead parts like Libertaria and Simeon having understudies. Auditions for Libertaria will be open until August 2011. Singers and actors wishing to volunteer their vocal talents for Libertaria: The Virtual Opera can send a two minute audition mp3 to spenayoung@gmail.com. Please write "Libertaria Audition" in the subject heading. Available roles range the gamut of ages and cultural backgrounds of both genders. Delta Chi initiate Sabrina Peña Young's multimedia works have been performed at the Beijing Conservatory, ICMC, Miramax's Project Greenlight, the Athena Festival, the New York International Independent Film Festival, Art Basil Miami, Turkey's Cinema for Peace, Angel Moving Image Festival in London, the Australasian Computer Music Conference, SEAMUS, Vox Novus International 60x60, X International Electroacoustic Music Festival "Primavera en la Habana 2004" and Pulsefield International Exhibition of Sound Art. Young's most recent works include the multimedia oratorio Creation and World Order #5, a futuristic percussion work for computer animation/tape/mallets. Young teaches music synthesis and composition at Murray State University. Find out the latest information on Libertaria: The Virtual Opera at http://virtualopera.wordpress.com/ and Libertaria: The Virtual Opera on Facebook. Libertaria has a project page set up on Kickstarter, a prominent internet site that helps independent musicians, filmmakers, and innovators help make their dreams a reality. To support Libertaria: The Virtual Opera, please go to: kickstarter.com/projects/virtualopera/libertaria-the-animated-opera-0. PAN PIPES SPRING 2011 sai-national.org