SIGN & SING Presents 2nd Annual Concert at Symphony Space for NY Opera Fest
New York, NY (PRWEB) April 12, 2017 -- Will the statue of Venus come alive? Can the vagabond find a travel companion? As part of the 2017 New York Opera Fest, SIGN & SING will present EXPLORATIONS, which examines three stories of love and travel, reimagining great works of classical music in sung English and American Sign Language (ASL). These works—Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s “At the Statue of Venus,” Ralph Vaughan Williams and Robert Louis Stevenson's “Songs of Travel,” and Sir Edward Elgar’s “Sea Pictures”—will be performed on Sunday, May 21, 2017, at 3 p.m. at Symphony Space in Thalia Theater. Open captions and Jacoti-Lola assisted listening devices will be provided.
The company produces concerts annually at Symphony Space as well as commissions and creates new operatic experiences that discuss accessibility, communication, and human connection. “SIGN & SING is thrilled to join New York Opera Fest and to inspire other productions to reconsider how to serve today's audiences,” Katherine Dubbs, SIGN & SING Founder and Executive Producer, says. “We hope to inspire other performing ensembles to reconsider the accessibility of all of their programming, including auditions, participation, and engagement, in order to elevate their artistic product and the stories they share. It is a fulfilling experience of continuous learning and listening.”
Although simultaneous ASL performance with live music has become popular in rock music and in musical theatre, the combination of both languages—music and sign—was never before witnessed in the operatic world. “What I love about SIGN & SING is how unprecedented it is,” Ren, a Deaf performer and founding member of SIGN & SING, who was also seen in Deaf West's Spring Awakening on Broadway and in NYCC Encores’ Runaways, says. “Incorporating ASL into a musical performance is challenging enough as it is, but merging ASL and operatic music is sort of uncharted territory—and it's an absolutely incredible experience to see and hear onstage.”
As SIGN & SING stage director Jocelyn Brown says, “This project is important for accessibility to all types of theatre. Stories need to be told and shared. When mixing the beauty of opera, with its language, and ASL, with its rich use of body and facial language, combining these worlds creates an open space for a multiplicity of perspectives.”
For tickets: http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/9616/Music/sign-sing-explorations
For more info: http://www.signandsing.org/ | @signsingasl
Contact:
Katherine Dubbs
Executive Producer, SIGN & SING
katherinepearldubbs(at)gmail(dot)com
Katherine Dubbs, Executive Producer, SIGN & SING, http://www.signandsing.org/, +1 917-751-7680, [email protected]
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