'i' - The Opera
REVIEWS
"A supremely creative production, at once exhilaratingly, wildly original and immaculately stylised."Read the full review here |
Operissima
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"'i’ the opera was at the same time tremendously inventive, well-performed and genuinely thought-provoking."
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I Care If You Listen
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"Oldham's music felt carefully constructed, with both the comic timing and off kilter harmony creating an extremely colourful and vibrant musical world for the characters to exist in."
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Schmopera
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"One begins to get the sense that for all its aesthetic bombast, the image ‘i’ presents of operatic tradition constitutes a sly wink; the suggestion that the formal strictures it mimics can, and have been, overcome."
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MAP magazine
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ARTICLES
"Waste Paper Opera Company is a group of artists from various disciplines, who create works of art together, devising music and making artistic decisions. Why not expand the creative circle to an artful neural network?"
Read Klara Kofen's article on perspectives for new opera here.
Read Klara Kofen's article on perspectives for new opera here.
"...the first-ever opera that features neural network programming."
Read Janelle Shane's blogpost on training neural networks to write prose and the genesis of the material used in 'i' here.
Read Janelle Shane's blogpost on training neural networks to write prose and the genesis of the material used in 'i' here.
"Technological leaps, new findings in microbiology, and the exploration of space constantly test our notions of ourselves and our perception of our relationship with the world around us. And what genre would be better suited to such explorations than opera?"
Science Opera takes to the Stage in the United Kingdom, SciArt Magazine, Decembre 2017
Science Opera takes to the Stage in the United Kingdom, SciArt Magazine, Decembre 2017
ABOUT
Co-written by an artificial intelligence, ‘i’ explores the latent eroticism in humans’ fascination with artificial beings.
The story follows the creation of an android, a birthday gift for a neurotic Princess who is sequestered by obsessively doting parents in a castle in the sky. The android’s inventor, while teaching it to speak and think, falls fatally in love with his own creation.
Librettist Klara Kofen co-wrote the piece with a neural network, reared on a database of Shakespeare sonnets and Indian Epics compiled by Dr Amita Kapoor, and trained by research scientist Janelle Shane (UC San Diego). This process inspired the musical material for ‘i’, for which composer James Oldham experimented with neural network learning processes, using the Melisma Stochastic Melody Generator and 1,000 love songs.
The story follows the creation of an android, a birthday gift for a neurotic Princess who is sequestered by obsessively doting parents in a castle in the sky. The android’s inventor, while teaching it to speak and think, falls fatally in love with his own creation.
Librettist Klara Kofen co-wrote the piece with a neural network, reared on a database of Shakespeare sonnets and Indian Epics compiled by Dr Amita Kapoor, and trained by research scientist Janelle Shane (UC San Diego). This process inspired the musical material for ‘i’, for which composer James Oldham experimented with neural network learning processes, using the Melisma Stochastic Melody Generator and 1,000 love songs.
PEOPLE
Composer & Director | James Oldham
Librettist, Designer & Director | Klara Kofen
Neural Network Programming | Janelle Shane, Dr. Amita Kapoor
Music Director | Daniel Galbreath
Glasgow Promoter & Show Host | Lewis Prosser
Set Designer/constructor | Tamara MacArthur
Assistant Costume Designer | Triin Kolmkant
Jester's coat constructor | Carol Aston
Original coincidence machine | Dave Morris
Prop designer/constructor | Caitlin MacKenzie
3D Animation | Maurice Andresen
Video Documentation | Shona Spalding
The Jester | Suzie Purkis
The Princess | Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo, Meili Li
The King | Przemyslaw Baranek, Mark Nathan, Themba Mvula
The Queen | Caroline Kennedy
The Inventor | Ben Kane
The Android | Anna Palmer
Trumpet | Aaron Diaz
Violin | Sarah Farmer
Viola | Daniel Galbreath
Viola | Danyal Dhondy
[lo-fi devised version] Ensemble: Beth Bellis, Zachaeus Dawson, Aaron Diaz, Daniel Galbreath, Ben Muirhead, Jenny Wood
Librettist, Designer & Director | Klara Kofen
Neural Network Programming | Janelle Shane, Dr. Amita Kapoor
Music Director | Daniel Galbreath
Glasgow Promoter & Show Host | Lewis Prosser
Set Designer/constructor | Tamara MacArthur
Assistant Costume Designer | Triin Kolmkant
Jester's coat constructor | Carol Aston
Original coincidence machine | Dave Morris
Prop designer/constructor | Caitlin MacKenzie
3D Animation | Maurice Andresen
Video Documentation | Shona Spalding
The Jester | Suzie Purkis
The Princess | Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo, Meili Li
The King | Przemyslaw Baranek, Mark Nathan, Themba Mvula
The Queen | Caroline Kennedy
The Inventor | Ben Kane
The Android | Anna Palmer
Trumpet | Aaron Diaz
Violin | Sarah Farmer
Viola | Daniel Galbreath
Viola | Danyal Dhondy
[lo-fi devised version] Ensemble: Beth Bellis, Zachaeus Dawson, Aaron Diaz, Daniel Galbreath, Ben Muirhead, Jenny Wood