Composition date: 2018
Text: the composer
Instrumentation: six voices (sss,t,bar, bs) + flt, bsn, kbd, pno, vln, vlc, bass
Length: 75 minutes
Premiere:
Date: November 2017 (workshop version)
Venue: Wallace theater, Lewis Arts Complex, Princeton University
Performers: singers: Heather O’Donovan, Shruthi Rajasekar, Alexandra Porter, Gabriel Crouch, Bradley King, Brandon Gaines. Instrumentalists: Jayne Rosenfeld, Robert Wagner, Margaret Kampmeier, Lynda Saponara, Anna Lim, Alberto Parini, Jack Hill. Conductor, Gabriel Crouch; Director, Daniel Krane; lighting, Victoria Davidjohn.
Piece Description:
A comic opera set in a science laboratory in a university. Professor Platt and her assistant have invited four students to participate in a lecture/demonstration:
A message from Professor Louise Dorothy Platt.
You are all very welcome to the Neuro-Amatory-Analytics Laboratory.
I will begin by outlining the technical and theoretical background to our research, then my associate, Dr Neare, and I will introduce the focus of our work: the Analysing Engine. The Engine is designed to measure the emotional connection between two individuals with unprecedented numerical accuracy. I call this the "Amorous Coupling Co-efficient". Imagine, if you will, the great boon this will prove. If we can extrapolate from this value, we will be able to predict the outcome of any given relationship with a very high level of certainty. Think of the time, money and heartache this will save! We have invited four students to be the first test-subjects for our demonstration. They are two couples, in love (so they say - we'll soon see!). Just for fun, we will award a small cash prize to the pair that attains the highest co-efficient value with the Engine.
