»How often do we get to see new stories – especially opera - being aired on stage?« asks Lilian von der Nahmer. Fellow student Ravi Sund Rojo adds: »And how often do you get to sing an opera role that’s been written specially for you, by a living composer?« Von der Nahmer and Rojo are both 24 and studying voice and vocals. The answer to the question is: pretty seldom. Which is why the two of them are chuffed to be part of this year’s edition of NEW SCENES, a series that has small teams of people competing to create musical theatre that is exciting, experimental, sometimes intensely personal and always throbbing with modern relevance. »It’s about making sure that opera remains a living, breathing art form,« says von der Nahmer.

NEW SCENES sees the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin collaborating on a competition open to duos of young composers and librettists. Applicants are narrowed down to three teams, each of which then focuses on producing a chamber opera and casting budding singers to perform the piece. The competition culminates in a triptych of premieres in the Tischlerei. The competition is being held for the seventh time and has already proved a formative environment for creatives as disparate as composer Sara Glojnarić and director Michael Höppner.

Lilian von der Nahmer and Ravi Sund Rojo together with Elizabeth Kim and Yutong Wei form the voice ensemble for »What Joy«, a work by American composer Zara Ali. Working together as a foursome didn’t happen overnight. There were classical auditions, says Yutong Wei, and they had to submit a video that showed their vocal range, »everything from bel canto arias to Hollywood elegies by Hanns Eisler«. Twelve singers applied and so it was that Zari Ali together with the Icelander Haukur þór Harðarson and Huihui Cheng from China – the two other composers – came up with the cast that would perform their works.

The first encounter between Zara Ali and the four singers took place in Spring 2024. Kim takes up the story: »Zara Ali recorded our voices to use as electronic samples in the composition. And needless to say, we discussed what basic concept behind the work.« Writer Hannah Dübgen, Ali’s team colleague, has come up with an English-language libretto inspired by »The Age of Em – Work, Love and Life when Robots Rule the Earth«, a dystopic visualisation by the US economist Robin Hanson. Direction is by Sergei Morozow from Russia, another student at Hanns Eisler, whose production features hybrid entities with digitally manipulated brains (Hanson’s »emulated minds«), whose channel for perceiving the world around them has been reduced to their sense of taste, which in turn prevents them from appreciating the beauty of music. The ‘E.M’.s, named after their respective favourite foods »Orange«, »Saffron« and »Langouistine«, meet the very human conductor of a baroque ensemble »and set about trying to hybridise him«, says Yutong Wei, who plays the part of said composer.

Four voices of tomorrow at the entrance to the former painting hall, which now serves as a rehearsal stage © Nancy Jesse

 

All four singers describe Zara Ali’s music as »surprisingly tonal yet also highly complex«. Von der Nahmer describes it as »a real challenge, having to sing so many notes in such a short space of time – and by heart, too.« That’s how it should be. »Every production we get to be part of during our time at the Hanns Eisler is a snapshot of where we are right now,« elaborates Rojo. »Where are my boundaries? What areas should I be expanding into?« And the advantage of NEW SCENES is »that we can show people what we’re capable of as singers in fully rounded mini-opera mounted at a major venue – without it being tragic if we make mistakes. We can grow alongside the artistic process and don’t have to be infallible.« Elizabeth Kim agrees: »It’s not yet the main stage, but it’s getting there. [Laughing:] It’s just next door to the big stage with the bright lights«.