MICRO-OPERA
Everything you carry - ROH
'Everything you Carry' with Libretto by Olivia Bell and Music by Georgia Barnes, was written for the Royal Opera House, the Jette Parker Young Artists and the Casco Phil for International Women's Day 2022. The piece was commissioned along with 5 other composer/ librettist teams. The aim was that there micro-operas would pop up around St Pancras Station for unknowing computers on their way to work. We received prior audience participation during the libretto writing process. Through social media, the public submitted responses to various questions relating to the mental load they carried. We built this piece around normal people, on their commute, who struggle with emotions that no one else can see. The piece was written for voice, 2 violins, a flute and a piano.
The micro-operas received a 4* review in the Guardian and the Telegraph.
Peripeteia: A Reversal in Circumstance
‘Peripeteia: a reversal in circumstances’ is a 5 minute chamber orchestra based on the film Festen. The Expressionist film centres on a family that confesses traumatic events from their childhood; humans become reduced to their most animalistic forms. The film follows the Dogme 95 principles of filmmaking ‘The sound must never be produced apart from the images’ (i.e. all music must be created there and then). Therefore, I’ve encouraged performers to utilise the sounds of a dinner party to contribute to this micro-opera.
Sopranos: Hannah Wardrop, Fenella Lawrence, Anna Pych
Tenor: Simon Ashmead
Baritone: Niall Windass
Horn - Nivanthi Karunaratne
Violins - Miriam Pancheva, Eleanor Daft
Viola - Andrew Liddell
Percussion - Sam Swift
Double Bass - Sam Purgh
Conductor: Meg Storer
Composer and Director: Georgia Barnes
Sound Technician: Ben Leigh-Grosart
Confessions (to My Father) - Rude Health Festival of New Music
‘Confessions (to my fathers)’ is a semi-autobiographical, three-part soliloquy for experimental voice, oboe, viola and harp that exposes the male influence on women’s bodies. It is loosely based on Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory. The piece draws attention to the moulding of a woman during childhood, adolescence and adulthood. A singer should paint her body, during the movements, to represent a male role during her development.
Conductor - Euan Holwill
Soprano - Georgia Barnes
Oboe - Stefani Trendafilova
Viola - Andrew Liddell
Harp - Laudine Dard
Videography and sound editing by Sam Car, David Lovegrove and Ben Leigh-Grosart
A Time of Empty Tales - Tête à Tête Festival 2020
Composer: Georgia Olivia Barnes
Libretto: Catherine Strong
The Lost One: Olivia Bell
The Friend: Alex White
The King: Alex White
The Doctor: Georgia Barnes
Répétiteur: Guy Murgatroyd W
e would like to thank Bill Banks-Jones and the whole of the Tête à Tête team for hosting this show. Disclaimer: This show was filmed in September 2020 during the Coronavirus Pandemic. All performers were socially distanced on stage with the exception of performers residing within the same household. Tête à Tête's rules abiding with government guidelines during the filming of this show.