Creative Team
Composer
PAOLA PRESTINI
Librettist
BRENDA SHAUGNESSY
Choreographer & Co-Director
JERRON HERMAN
Co-Director
JAY SCHEIB
Conductor
ELIZABETH ASKREN
PAOLA PRESTINI
BRENDA SHAUGNESSY
About
Sen-so-rium refers to:
1. The parts of the brain or the mind concerned with the reception and interpretation of sensory stimuli; broadly: the entire sensory apparatus.
2. Constantly changing realm of the senses
Sensorium Ex: Everything She Knows She Knows By Heart.
An opera exploring and exploding notions of how humans–with particular histories, gifts, and abilities–perceive and understand the world. Inspired by Chad Foster, a businessman whose blindness from macular degeneration is only part of the beginning of his story, Sensorium Ex challenges the assumptions that disability is, by definition, loss.
A group of scientists gather around Sophia, their newest robotic invention whose sight reads minds. Each has come to the table for different reasons, which unravel as we eavesdrop on intertwined characters whose narratives morph and migrate like all stories of our lives: in a mysterious and unstable mix of perception, memory, reason and emotion. The truth of who we are is ever in flux, yet it persists in love, in the senses, in the depths of loss, and in human connection. The journey to the truth of ourselves may well be interior, or from soul to soul, but the distance traveled is beyond measure. As the scientists relationships to Sophia are uncovered, their own motivations for “seeing” come to light, and we come to understand her sight as a composite of their lives and dreams.
Support
Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and Atlanta Opera. Developed by VisionIntoArt in association with Beth Morrison Projects. Produced by the Atlanta Opera in association with Beth Morrison Projects.
![The West Coast premiere of TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD marked another successful addition to the rich legacy of collaborative efforts between Beth Morrison Projects and LA Opera (@laopera)! We're looking back at some of our favorite productions over the years to celebrate!
DOG DAYS - DOG DAYS marked the first production of the whirlwind partnership in 2015. Hailed by the New York Times as a riveting, soon-to-be “groundbreaking American classic,” the post-apocalyptic tragedy made waves at its LAO presentation and put BMP on the West Coast map.
P R I S M - P R I S M marked another milestone in our joint history. Not only did Ellen Reid’s (@ellenreidmusic) debut opera make its world premiere with LA Opera at REDCAT (@calartsredcat), but this collaborative project would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2019. It was a major development for BMP, LAO, and, of course, Ellen Reid, who “[took] her place among the host of promising young American opera composers” (The Financial Times).
ANGEL'S BONE - Another Pulitzer Prize-winning BMP production, ANGEL'S BONE, was planned as part of the 2020 season. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation pivoted, becoming the first in our history to be presented digitally. The show was streamed by 20,000 people, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our bond with LAO.
TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD - Finally, Emma O’Halloran’s (@emmamohalloran) TRADE/Mary Motorhead made its West Coast premiere last month at REDCAT. We're thrilled to celebrate another year of BMP and LAO sharing boundary-pushing, cutting-edge opera with this incredible production starring Naomi Louisa O’Connell (@naomi_louisa_oconnell), Marc Kudisch (@marckudisch), and Kyle Bielfield (@bielfield)!](https://bethmorrisonprojects.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)