The Transcendence Operas–Tales of TranscendenceTales of Transcendence: a series of intimate operas celebrating stories of everyday people who, as individuals and groups, have transcended the human divide.
In April 2021, Bellissima Opera will premiere (as a virtual performance) the first opera in the Tales of Transcendence Series: ON CALL: COVID-19 (a short opera) honoring the stories of frontline health-care workers. In March 2020, six health-care workers on the frontline of the COVID pandemic join a virtual call to support one who is on the verge of collapse from the strain. Over the upcoming months, the calls continue as they each share personal stories of compassion, courage, heartbreak, frustration and hope. In June 2021, Bellissima Opera will premiere (as a live performance OR virtual, if dictated by the pandemic) the second opera in the Tales of Transcendence Series: FUTURE PERFECT (a full-length opera) co-created with 1,300 Chicago–area youth. Future Perfect tells adventures of the intuitive and curious Miranette who leaves a forbidding society which has lost its connection to the outside world. Along her journey, Miranette meets a colorful cast of characters who teach her invaluable lessons while in turn, she inadvertently engulfs them in a web of quantum entanglement―a state where anything is possible. The "Tales of Transcendence" series will continue in subsequent years with these two operas: Outside the Ring (a full-length opera) based on the friendship that developed between the boxers German Max Schmeling and American Joe Louis decades after their two epic fights at Yankee Stadium in the 1930s. The intense focus of those two fighters foreshadowed the impending war between their respective countries. Reconciliation (a short opera) highlights an extraordinary act of forgiveness that occurred during The Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings following the end of apartheid in South Africa. The opera will examine the concepts of Forgiveness and Restorative Justice in our world. |