How to Write an Opera in the 21st Century: Digital Music and the Dawn of Internet Collaboration

Lee Scott's Interactive Web Opera "The Village"

It used to be that if you wanted to write an opera, you would need access to a full production company, an orchestra, a hall, stagehands and theater personnel, costumes, and more. You would need a librettist and a composer and a stage director, divas and extras, maybe even a donkey. This would require resources well beyond most composers, often thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars.

But today, if you want to write an opera you can take a few shortcuts that allow you to write an opera for close to free using digital technology and Internet collaboration.

The truth of the matter is that you can access online any singer, librettist, instrumentalist, or actor that you need (well, maybe except for the donkey, who probably doesn't have the Internet).

Some of the ways you can access these individuals includes:
Posting on Message Boards
Contacting University Music Departments
Posting Virtual Auditions on Twitter and Facebook
Using A&R Sites like Music Xray
Posting on Blogs
Blogging
Reaching Our Through Youtube

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There are limitless ways to contact people to help you make your dream a reality. You can then fund your enterprise in one of several ways:

MicroInvestment
Crowdfunding
Crowdsourcing
Using low-cost resources like musicians on Fiverr.com
Collaborating with talented college students
Working with a university or high school music department
Working with a local community center or a church
Funding the work yourself through odd online jobs

Use technology today to create great opera in a new innovative virtual venue like Second Life (a virtual reality video game), an app, a film or animated short, an original video game, or more. Save money on costuming and create your epic interactive opera with animation and gaming in mind. If you want a live performance, combine multimedia and video to transport your singers to whatever stage you choose.

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For Libertaria: The Virtual Opera, I managed to create a feature length animated opera on $1000. When the deadline loomed, I used a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to take on an additional composer Patrick Rundblad for final mastering. I used the machinima software Moviestorm along with Photoshop, DAZ's Bryce software, and Final Cut, all on my older iMac computer. A talented team of animators volunteered to help me create moving imagery and the cast volunteered despite their crazy schedules.

Libertaria: The Virtual Opera Highlights Reel

The dawn of Internet collaboration means that you no longer have to depend on the powers-that-be to write an opera. You can use technology to bring your idea to life. Post up a note that you need a librettist or tell your Facebook friends you are looking for someone to be your soprano leading lady. Innovation has allowed music to explode in recent years. And while the McMusic Industry is lamenting the loss of revenue, indie artists and composers are now free to create whatever they want without limitation.

So do you have a great idea for an opera? Or other large scale work? Don't fret. You can create a new opera and more through innovation.
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Intermedia composer, percussionist, author, and obsessive sci-fi buff, Young composes mind-numbing

electroacoustic works heard in Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe. Her music has been heard in film festivals, radio, electronic dance clubs, random boom boxes in France, and as not-so-pleasant background music. Her multimedia works have been performed at venues like the Beijing Conservatory, the International Computer Music Conference, Miramax’s Project Greenlight, the Athena Festival, the New York International Independent Film Festival, Art Basil Miami, Turkey’s Cinema for Peace, and Pulsefield International Exhibition of Sound Art.

Commission Sabrina Pena Young today for your project today. Affordable music and multimedia, exclusive professional music coaching, and high quality writing services available. Contact Today: spenayoung@gmail.com