The Voice Machine

The Voice Machine, a collaboration between composers and performers at UC San Diego and Stanford University, presents new works by composers Constantin Basica, Alexandra Hay, Jessie Marino, and Caroline Miller performed by UC San Diego's kallisti ensemble — sopranos Hillary Jean Young, Ashley Cutright, and Kirsten Wiest; baritone Jonathan Nussman; and pianist Kyle Adam Blair. The operas premiere at UC San Diego and then travel to Stanford. 

Basica's Knot an Opera! binds operatic practices with elements from old and new media into a chain of ludicrous episodes. Miller's How to Survive a 100-Hour Workweek imagines an absurd work environment with inspirational advice from politicians, celebrities, and bloggers. Marino's Experiments in Opera II is inspired by the Neo-Futurists' project "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind." Hay's Metanoia is an interactive music play space that will take place during intermission, with the audience encouraged to participate. 

Susan Narucki (Professor of Music at UC San Diego), and Jarek Kapuscinski (Associate Professor and Department Chair, Department of Music, Stanford University), first initiated the project in 2014. | The Voice Machine is supported in part by the Ben and A. Jess Shenson Fund at Stanford University.