OYO AT THE CONNECT BEYOND FESTIVAL
Is our fascination with technology weakening our sense of empathy and our capability for human connection? Can the arts address the role technology plays in our society and in the lives of our children? These questions spurred Rebecca Comerford, Artistic Director of Ojai Youth Opera (OYO), to co-create the new opera, Nightingale and the Tower.
Comerford collaborated with groundbreaking classical composer Jason Treuting and Grammy award-winning Wilco musician Mikeal Jorgensen to co-create the opera premiering in May.
Highlighting creative material that can shape hearts and minds and examine our path as humans, Nightingale & The Tower explores the themes of technology in the digital age, exploring the delicate balance between nature and technology and the ways in which children must navigate the bridge between the creative and destructive forces of both. This timely, beautiful and exciting opera asks how technology shapes us and how as an increasingly potent part of the human experience it best be utilized to bring about positive change in the world.
Rebecca and Mikael will present excerpts from Nightingale And The Tower at the Connect Beyond Festival, performing some of the Opera’s arias and excerpts from the story’s libretto. They are excited to connect with festivalgoers by sharing OYO’s mission to create original, socially-conscious work to awaken the authentic expression of humanity and keep it alive.
