Our space opera started when we as science fiction fans and people who pay a little bit of attention to astronomy—and the exciting dimensions of that—noticed that colonization is used in a really sort of neutral way or as a kind of benign process. Whereas in our areas of research, it, of course, is this episteme of violence that we’ve barely survived. So we wanted to bring that into the science fiction genre as an opera that thinks about space exploration with that as part of it… My collaborator Alexandro Segade and I, having working for many years in performance, [know] from our research how performance forms and sociopolitical forms shape each other. We wanted to speculate about a story about humans who attempt to colonize the planet 85K Aurora sometime after the Earth’s demise. — Malik Gaines*
Last year’s premiere performances of STAR CHOIR—Gaines and Segade’s long-evolving opera project, at an elevation of 5,000 feet inside Mt. Wilson’s largest observatory—was an unforgettable experience for the lucky few who gained admission. On January 24, back in town in a cinematic iteration (close-ups!), The Industry presents a one-night-only screening of STAR CHOIR, the film.
Gaines and Segade, joined by vocalist Kelci Hahn, will participate in a Q & A following the screening, moderated by Assistant Professor of English at UCLA Summer Kim Lee. See info and link below for details.
STAR CHOIR
Composition and co-direction by Malik Gaines
Libretto and co-direction by Alexandro Segade
Produced by The Industry
Wednesday, January 24, at 7:30 pm
Billy Wilder Theater
Hammer Museum
10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
hammer.ucla.edu/programs-events/2024/star-choir
*Malik Gaines, “Space/Opera: The Constellation of Star Choir/The Industry” panel, September 17, 2022, part of the Fulcrum Arts’ presentation Beyond All Measure: The Sea, the Sky, the Horizon of Our Transitional Present.
Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade, Star Choir (2024), directed by Gaines and Segade, musical direction by Marc Lowenstein, produced by The Industry, from top: Star Choir; Carmen Edano (alto); Shyheim Selvan Hinnant (baritone); Kelci Hahn (soprano); Gregório Taniguchi (tenor); Jon Lee Keenan (tenor).
Orchestra: Guillermo E. Brown (percussion), Elizabeth Huston (harp), Marlon Martinez (bass), Ethan Philbrick (cello), Malik Taylor (horn), and Lucy Yates (keyboard).
Production: Milka Djordjevich (Movement Director), Daniel Leyva (Media Designer), Chu-Hsuan Chang (Lighting Designer), Jonathan Burke (Sound Designer, A1), Natalie Barshow (Costume Designer), Johanna Stroebel (Animator).
Photographs by Michael Thomas, courtesy and © the artists and The Industry.
