The operas, musicals, operettas, and other staged works selected here have been chosen by our working group.
Laura Bowler - Houses Slide (soprano, chamber orchestra and live electronics). View on YouTube: soon to be published by Ricordi, contact Ricordi for details. Describes one woman's intimate psychological journey to figure out her response to the climate crisis, from an initial depressing realisation of the gravity of the issue, through to her refusal to be overwhelmed and decision to take positive action.
Laura Bowler - The Girl With The Hurricane Brain (sop, mezzo, tenor, countertenor, sax, clt, vln, vc, bs, pno, gtr, perc., live electronics). Watch trailer on YouTube, and read more about the opera: soon to be published by Ricordi, contact Ricordi for details. A family is ready to enjoy a cozy meal together, until someone mentions climate. The daughter’s doomsday fear hammers against her uncomprehending parents, while a weather reporter on morning TV desperately tries to get through with his alarming future prophecy.
Lewis Coenen-Rowe - STUMPED (opera) - 2 mezzo sopranos, trumpet, trombone, violin, cello. View a perusal score; email the composer for score and parts. A miniature opera exploring deforestation through scenes from five ancient stories that centre on what happens when you mess with trees. These stories alternate with conversations between two users of an internet forum on an overnight work binge, until gradually the two worlds begin to merge.
Peter Rose and Anne Conlon - Yanomamo (stage musical) - 3 Flutes, 3/4 Bb Clarinets, 2 Alto Sax, 2 Tenor Sax, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Electric Bass, Classical/Acoustic Guitar, Electric Keyboard, (String) Synthesiser, Piano, timps, percussion. Find out more and order scores. Yanomamo describes the crisis situation in the Amazon Basin. The Yanomami is the oldest Indian tribe living in the forest. The delicate balance of nature is being systematically removed, and soon the rainforests, which are crucial to the world's eco-system, will disappear together with the Indians and the wildlife. Is there the time or the will to save them?
Isa Suarez (composer), James Marriott and John Jordan (lyricists) - And While London Burns (operatic audio walk) - solo soprano, cello and clarinet. Listen on SoundCloud; email the composer for further info. It addresses the impact that The City Of London has been having and still has on the oil and gas industries worldwide.
Kerrin Tatman (composer), Rosie Bristow (lyricist) - Requiem for a Fading World (oratorio or opera) - solo soprano, solo alto/mezzo, chorus, and orchestra. Could be fully staged, semi-staged, or sung as a concert performance. Find out more about the piece and listen to samples; contact the composer for more information and to request a score. Requiem for a Fading World is a live music performance that tells a fantastical, post-apocalyptic tale for modern times. The secular, narrative piece blends contemporary classical, choral and folk influences and turns the traditional Requiem structure on its head. Set in a landscape of perpetual winter, where all modern fuel resources have nearly run out, we follow two solo singers – a Mother and her Daughter – on their separate journeys to navigate this harsh terrain. The Daughter leads an army into a deadly battle to capture and harness the last remnants of fuel resource available to mankind. The Mother searches for greener pastures by working with the natural world. Who will succeed? The Requiem uses the fantasy genre as an accessible way of exploring real-life issues surrounding climate change, including resource extraction from the Earth; sustainable farming methods; and becoming 'climate refugees'. Lyricist Rosie Bristow is an expert in sustainable farming methods, particularly within flax growing and production, and many of the lyrics reflect her knowledge. For example, in movement eight (Lux Aeterna), a tried and tested crop rotation cycle is include in the choral parts.
If you have a piece you'd like to add to this list, please fill in the submission form.
