{"id":54300,"date":"2021-03-23T18:54:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T22:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/?page_id=54300&preview_id=54300"},"modified":"2025-02-28T15:14:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T20:14:59","slug":"opera-for-now-opera-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/peabody.jhu.edu\/life-at-peabody\/career-services\/student-alumni-stories\/creative-wire\/opera-for-now-opera-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Mar. 23, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Opera for Now – Opera for Everyone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Strange Trace focuses on the creation of new operas and expanding access to the art form.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mar. 23, 2021 | by Michael Manganiello
Edited by Carolyn Dzul<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“An event is not what occupies the front page of the newspaper. We don\u2019t know how to explain it or even to name it. And yet, if it occurs it must touch some \u2018surface\u2019 where it leaves its trace: a consciousness, an unconsciousness, individual or collective. Perhaps it even had to invent this surface in order to leave such a trace. It is a strange trace<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n– JEAN-FRANCIOS LYOTARD<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Amid the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertain future of the theatrical experience, six innovative artists joined forces to create Strange Trace<\/a>, an opera company whose mission is opera for now \/ opera for everyone<\/strong>. I spoke with Peabody student Joshua Scheid<\/a> (DMA, voice), who is one of the founding members of Strange Trace, to find out more about the concept and development of the company, as well as their mission and creative process. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Strange Trace was formed by six friends who met at the Boston Conservatory where they studied contemporary music, vocal performance, and composition. Seeking to create a more just world through relevant and meaningful art, they began to brainstorm over several Zoom sessions on a plan to launch and organize long-term projects.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 15, 2020, Strange Trace premiered on YouTube with See You Today<\/em><\/a>, which was composed by Scheid in 2018. See You Today <\/em>was originally composed for solo vocalist and projected text in six scenes. With a roster of six performers, and a new method of text display, Scheid was able to adapt the piece easily to fit both the company and the virtual platform. Scheid mentions that \u201cthis was an opportunity to test the waters of building a production for the internet by learning and workshopping audio\/video editing, as well as virtual audience outreach and engagement.\u201d Emails from Gary<\/a> <\/em>premiered two months later in a similar fashion, seamlessly transforming a staged work to the computer screen. Whereas most operatic works exist in the moment on stage, or those that are filmed and streamed require a paid subscription, both of these works remain available online for free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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