Constance
Developed in EiO’s The Writers’ Room, Constance: A Confession is a comedic journey following one woman’s devotion to the long art of the con. We first meet our titular character during her last days of grad school when she persuades a classmate to participate in a shocking act of violence as a conceptual art project. A year later, struggling to earn money in New York City, Connie finds work as a psychic. Soon, she expands her business and becomes a wellness influencer and her online empire grows into a cult—with deadly consequences. Scored for four singers and all-star experimental ensemble Hypercube, this new opera takes a biting look at how the power of storytelling in the hands of a charismatic figure can destroy lives.
The Writers’ Room program has been a mainstay of Experiments in Opera’s work over the last eight years as the company has expanded the pool of artists who are making and imagining opera. To date, 45 writers and composers from all backgrounds and experiences have collaborated to break open the historic model of single authorship.
About Experiments in Opera (EiO)
Co-Founded in Brooklyn in 2010 by composers Aaron Siegel, Matthew Welch and Jason Cady, Experiments in Opera (EiO) has maintained a laser-focus on newly created music by mostly American composers, and has commissioned 96 new works in thirteen years, from over 68 composers. During that time we have produced events at HERE Arts Center, Roulette, National Sawdust, The Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Art Haus, Issue Project Room, The Flea Theater, The Brick, Symphony Space, Merkin Concert Hall, The Stone, Le Poisson Rouge, Anthology Film Archives and Abrons Arts Center. The current staff of the organization includes composers Jason Cady, Aaron Siegel, Kamala Sankaram and director Shannon Sindelar.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Susan Bywaters (Librettist) is a writer based in New York City. Her works center around morality, absurdity, and the victim/perpetrator paradigm. Susan’s works have been performed on stages in Europe, South America, and throughout the US. Her most recent libretti, including An ending with Samuel Beebe (Strange Trace), The Windows with Elizabeth Gartman (Guerilla Opera), Daughter of God with Christopher Bell (LOAM), and My Wife is a Ghost (Bard College) have been commissioned by companies across the US. Also a playwright and poet, Susan is collaborating with director Madeline Whitesell in the development of her play Date/Rape. susanbywaters.com
Lisa Clair (Librettist) is a New York based playwright and performer. She makes work under the name Lisa Clair Group, a collective of performers, musicians, and designers who collaborate across disciplines to create live, experimental performance. Her plays are wild, surreal, funny and deeply personal. Lisa is a New Georges affiliated artist and a core artist with Immediate Medium. Her work has been presented at MITU580, (In Collaboration with New Georges and Immediate Medium), The Collapsable Hole, Target Margin Theater, SPRING/BREAK art show, The SFX Festival, The Bushwick Starr Reading Series, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, The Silent Barn and The Performance Project at University Settlement. lisaclair.com
Jasmine Galante (Composer) is a composer, playwright, vocalist and arts administrator based in New York. Aiming to foster connections between the performer and audience, Galante’s music is dramatically driven and explores the intersection of timbre and texture through her imaginative sound worlds. She often explores themes of loss and grief through her plays and librettos, seeking to create platforms to discuss these difficult topics. Galante is a soprano and board member of Cantori New York, a choir devoted to performing new and diverse repertoire, and earned her Bachelor of Music in Composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. jasminegalante.com
Elizabeth Gartman (Composer) With compositions described as “refreshingly absurd” (The Washington Post) and “innovative” (Twin Cities Arts Reader), composer Elizabeth Gartman’s work explores vocalism, process in performance, and active listening. Elizabeth’s music has been commissioned by Washington National Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, New Chamber Ballet, Guerilla Opera, InfraSound Ensemble, Ensemble Chemie, the Why Collective, Pax Duo, and others. Recent accolades include selection as a composer with the American Opera Initiative (2023), Honorable Mention for the Darmstadt Ferienkurse Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (2023), William Schuman Prize for Most Outstanding Score with BMI Student Composer Awards (2021), and runner-up of Beth Morrison Projects’ Next Generation (2022). elizabethgartman.com
Hypercube (Music Ensemble) is a cutting-edge chamber ensemble known for its performances and adventurous programming. Comprised of saxophone, guitar, piano, and percussion, the quartet has commissioned and premiered over 100 works since its formation in 2014. With performances at major festivals, universities, and concert venues across the United States and beyond, Hypercube continues to challenge and expand the possibilities of 21st-century chamber music. Hypercube has appeared on The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage (Washington, DC), Music on the Edge (Pittsburgh), Garrick Theatre (Newfoundland), Roulette (Brooklyn), New Music Edmonton, LPR presents (NYC), and the 40th International Festival of New Music (Mexico City). Hypercube is: Erin Rogers (saxophones), Jay Sorce (guitar), Andrea Lodge (piano), and Chris Graham (percussion).
Mattie Levy (Composer) Described as multi-faceted, relevant, and fun, Mattie Levy (writer, performer/composer) obtained masters degrees in Composition and Oboe Performance from the University of Michigan. Her recent works include “Floating on the Wings of Our Planet,” an immersive media piece addressing climate change, and her Presser award-winning cross-disciplinary show “Concert Black,” which follows three Black classical musicians and their journeys through life. Mattie’s essay: “If my Imposter Syndrome had a Voice and the Reality of the Situation” was published in the online journal: Currents in Music Research. Connect with mattie on Instagram bit.ly/levymakesproductions
Roger A. Martinez (Composer) composes music that explores the connecting threads among forms. Roger’s operatic works, such as 2024’s Souls Unscreened and 2021’s Alcina Revamped, often feature chamber instrumentation alongside electronic components. His music has been performed in collaboration with Experiments in Opera, Alter Ego Chamber Opera, and ENA Ensemble. Roger’s credits also include soundtracks for films, podcasts and video games. He is a member of the critically acclaimed chamber-pop group Settled Arrows, contributing production work and string arrangements to the group’s 2024 album Nectar. Roger is a graduate of San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Technology and Applied Composition program. rogeramartinez.com/
Sam Norman (Librettist) writes for the stage and screen. As a 2023-4 American Opera Initiative Fellow, he co-wrote HAIRPIECE, which premiered at the Kennedy Center in early 2024. Other operatic work includes MUCKRAKERS (NYU/AOP Lab 2024) and THREE PENELOPES (Britten Theatre 2022). Sam has co-written COME DINE WITH ME: THE MUSICAL, which is slated for an off-West End production following runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and Norwich Playhouse. His screenplay GAMESTOP won the ScreenCraft TV Pilot Fellowship 2024. He is a Resident Artist at the American Lyric Theater, a Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriter and a Broadway Future Songbook writer. BA, Oxford; MFA, NYU Tisch. samuelnorman.com
Shannon Sindelar (Director) is a theater director and producer based in New York City. Recent directing work includes the NYC premieres of EiO’s Five Ways to Die and Lisa Clair’s Willa’s Authentic Self, and regional premieres of Madeleine George’s Hurricane Diane, Clare Barron’s Dance Nation, and the Southern premiere of Jaclyn Backus’ Men on Boats. She currently serves as producing director for the Obie Award-winning company The Builders Association and is an artist leader with Experiments in Opera. She is an adjunct professor at Barnard College, an affiliated artist with New Georges, and a board member of the performance ensemble Object Collection. MFA: Carnegie Mellon (John Wells Directing Fellow).
Ed Valentine (Librettist) is a four-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning writer for Sesame Street. He has written for The Fairly OddParents, My Little Pony, and Sharkdog, among many other TV shows. Ed’s plays have been produced around the U.S. and internationally; he was awarded a Dramatists Guild Fellowship and was named one of “50 Writers to Watch” in The Dramatist Magazine. Ed is a co-artistic director of both The Beekeepers Theater (Sheffield, MA) and New Circle Theatre Company (NYC). He is a graduate of Boston College and has his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. edvalentine.com