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

Young Dishes Opera at TEDxBuffalo How to Write an Opera in the Digital Age When we think about how to write an opera, what often comes to mind is a large scale traditional opera on an immense theatrical stage employing dozens, if not a hundred, singers, musicians, costumer designers, stagehands, theater personnel, a publicist, and more.  Writing an opera in the 21st century has greatly evolved with the changes in technology. Specifically social media, Internet downloads, video hosting sites like Youtube, smartphones and even changes in basic coding has allowed today's opera composers to truly write great operas without the cost and complexities of a traditional stage opera.  Composer Sabrina Pena Young Discusses Online Opera Production at TEDxBuffalo As a composer, I still prefer live performance and the grandiose splendor of a live theatrical production . However, with economic and social barriers that have limited my access (and many contemporary composers')...

Music Secrets: How to Write an Opera on a Budget PART 1 Historically, producing an opera, especially a grand scale epic opera , involved numerous resources, finances, and clout. From getting the opera company to the orchestra, to finding a hall big enough for your musical vision, to finding financiers who didn't mind sinking thousands and thousands into a possible flop of a production, the task to produce your own opera could be daunting.  Then the Internet Happened. And social media. And technology that broke down a thousand barriers to your musical vision. When I composed and produced my opera Libertaria, I took advantage of the Internet and technology and created an epic opera that broke ground as the first original machinima opera and broke ground in its innovative Internet production. I will share some of the ways that I managed to create this incredibly epic opera below. Take a few of these ideas, expand on them, and then make YOUR artistic dream a reality!  I d...