Opera, Music, and the Future of Contemporary Music

What has been most interesting with the aftermath of creating the world's first machinima Opera Libertaria:The Virtual Opera has been the resulting interest in virtual production. Online collaboration used for Libertaria has proven that one does not need a massive budget or even extensive opera company connections to create a large scale opera project. I have spoken about virtual production in various places including Buffalo State and the Hartford Women Composer's festival. An upcoming article in the Percussive Arts Society periodical Percussive Notes goes into further details about the opera's online collaboration and how it is possible today for the contemporary musician to create astonishing works with a little bit of technology and imagination on their side.

English: Icebreaker live at Queen Elisabeth Hall, September 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There's been much debate on whether classical music has essentially buried itself by insisting on only promoting works there centuries old. Many smaller musical groups have combated this by commissioning new work and promoting contemporary music. Many of us forget that when Beethoven or Bach or Mozart created their first works these were contemporary works and were not antiquated works of old. The music was relevant. It was now. It was new. This rich newness is what classical music has lost as the largest musical organizations decided to stick to arcane music that only appeals to a very small segment of a population in the past century.
DOWNLOAD FREE OPERA SCORES

My hope is that with projects like Libertaria and other projects by incredible composers we will move classical music into the 21st century before it's too late.

Comments

HOTTEST POSTS!

Music Secrets: How to Write an Opera, Part 1

Feel like writing an opera is only for big name composers with big budgets? Or are you willing to take the plunge and create a work in one of the most compelling and cutting edge musical forms...an opera? Almost two years ago I embarked on the largest musical production I have created to date - Libertaria: The Virtual Opera. After writing the award-winning Creation Oratorio and dozens of multimedia works, I wanted to combine my love of the audio and the visual into a single large scale work. Find a Great Dramatic Story You need a strong story to write a compelling opera. Fortunately you can easily borrow from thousands of public domain works and modernize them. Think of West Side Story (just a contemporary version of Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet) . Many great operas use Shakespeare, the Brothers Grimm , and Biblical stories, all of which include interesting characters, strong themes, and action. Libertaria borrows heavily from messianic stories, but is se

FREE MOVIE Spiritus : Science Fiction Animation | Sabrina Young Film

In this visually compelling animated sci-fi film by Buffalo filmmaker Sabrina Young, a neurotic janitor hitchhikers her way to the dying exoplanet Spiritus to escape the truth of her past in this visually stunning animated machinima film by award-winning Cuban American Director and Composer Sabrina Peña Young. Thrown into the Asylum by her parents after a violent incident, Eleora longs to join the SpaceX crew to journey to Spiritus. Captain Reginald Hunter, a loser playboy, will do anything to stop her from finding the mysterious Ancient alien seer who calls to her light-years away. Created using a combination of original watercolor paintings created by the director's 8-year-old daughter and video-game inspired machinima, and accompanied by Young's riveting electronica Stranger Things inspired soundtrack, Spiritus promises to take the audience to an unforgettable fantasy adventure. Nominated for Best Animation at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival 2019. Directed

Space Apps Challenge 2020 Generation Artemis - Sabrina Young

Practicing my Malletkat after converting my studio space into a virtual performance space.

Graphic Design Reel 2022 | Sabrina Pena Young

Bandwidth Media & Film | Sabrina Pena Young

Bandwidth Media & Film provides world class SEO writing services | Sabrina Pena Young

Las Aguas - Electronica - Sabrina Pena Young

Electronica work Las Aguas from the prizewinning multimedia Creation Oratorio by Sabrina Peña Young. Originally commissioned by the Millikin University Womens Choir and Percussion Ensemble. Program notes and Translation: Las Aguas Cielos Sky/Heavens Separe las aguas de las aguas Separate the waters from the waters Aire Air La vida Life (Swahili) Maisha Life Bahari Sea/Ocean Hewa Air Iwepo nafasi kati ya maji igawe maji na maji. Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Kuwepo na viumbe hai tele kwenye maji, ndege waruke juu ya dunia katika nafasi ya anga Let the waters swarm with living creatures; let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.

COMPOSER SABRINA PENA YOUNG | MUSIC TECHNOLOGY | FILM | CLASSICAL | OPERA

Search This Blog