New Dramaturgies of Contemporary Opera

New Dramaturgies of Contemporary Opera is the first and only book that approaches the dramaturgy of contemporary opera from the unique perspectives of living practitioners (composers, librettists, directors, producers, singers, dramaturgs, and administrators) who provide valuable first-hand insight into the coming into being of an opera today. The edited collection captures the ethos of contemporary opera-making in the global context and serves as a timely intervention in addressing the array of heterogenous dramaturgical practices that go into making an opera today in an era of flux. The collection is split into four parts: Part I presents the new dramaturgical considerations that the field is currently exploring; Part II investigates the ways in which non-Western cultures and perspectives can and have been represented; Part III explores the roles of space, nature, and environment in contemporary opera; and finally, Part IV looks at the ways in which technology has intersected with the creation of contemporary opera. With perspectives from practitioners throughout, this collection is essential reading for advanced students, researchers, and scholars of contemporary opera, as well as practicing dramaturgs in this field.

Jingyi Zhang is a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at Harvard University. As a music and cultural historian, her research interests center on themes of racial identity, mobility, media technology, and decolonial thinking in 19th to 21st century songs, opera, and theater.

About the Contributors Acknowledgments Introduction: Contemporary Opera and New Dramaturgies JINGYI ZHANG PART I: New Dramaturgical Considerations 1. Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative: The First Ten Years KELLEY ROURKE 2. Interview with Beth Morrison BETH MORRISON AND JINGYI ZHANG 3. Seeking the Philosopher's Stone: On the Alchemy of Time in Creative Dramaturgy DAVID T. LITTLE PART II: Representing Non-Western Cultures and Perspectives 4. Musicalizing the World: Dramaturgical Considerations of Non-European Culture in Contemporary Opera KAMALA SANKARAM 5. Investigating Operatic Decolonization in the Hypermobility Turn: The Industry's Sweet Land (2020) JINGYI ZHANG 6. Interview with Du Yun DU YUN AND JINGYI ZHANG PART III: Site-Specific Dramaturgies 7. Landscape Dramaturgy and (Post)Opera: Singing after Perspective JELENA NOVAK 8. Pastoral Paradox: Staging Ted Hearne's Farming (2023) and Kate Soper's The Hunt (2023) ASHLEY KELLY TATA 9. Interview with Pamela Z PAMELA Z AND JINGYI ZHANG PART IV: Creative Possibilities of Transmedia Dramaturgy 10. Tradition, Transmedia, and Music in Contemporary Japanese Performing Arts KRISZTINA ROSNER 11. Biometrics, AI, Embodiment, Performative Practices, and the New Dramaturgy ELLEN PEARLMAN 12. Interview with Noa Frenkel NOA FRENKEL AND JINGYI ZHANG