Original Vision IV: the Deeps
Program
Original Vision is an incubator project from Overtone Industries focused on encouraging and guiding composers and librettists to develop their unique visions in an authentic, boundary-breaking environment. Tonight’s performance includes the world-premiere of scenes from:
THE ANTS ARE ILLUMINATED by Brian Gyamfi & Collin Kemeny A group of spirits connect with a street performer in Los Angeles. They find themselves locked in a city of capitalism, dependent on Calypso, a street magician who wants to use her magic to help them return home.
THE FISHERMAN by Pedro Pascoali features two very different, very hungry fishermen friends. They are visited by a Creature bringing unexpected abundance.
BAYAHA (danger) by Ruth Margraff & Richard Marriot is a new myth about two sisters who have drifted apart as glaciers melt, one to the South and one to the North—and a wayfarer who descends to the depths to comb the sister’s hair free of the pollution that has gathered in it.
Performers:
Brightwork Ensemble
is a septet of Grammy-winning and nominated musicians who are fluent in many musical styles and who perform and record actively across Southern California and beyond. The ensemble is a favorite of composers: they have been engaged for hundreds of world premieres and premiere recordings. They are also frequently presented by local venues and series to bring their unique blend of exquisite artistry, innovative programming, and sense of fun.
Sharon Chohi Kim
Sharon Chohi Kim’s work as a performing artist and composer includes immersive experimental opera, performance art, improvisation, electronic sound art and site-specific space activation through movement and voice. In her practice of improvisation, she explores human and non-human states of being, enthusiastically discovering new ways in which her voice can sound. Chohi has performed with the LA Philharmonic, Industry Opera, Long Beach Opera, MOCA, the Broad Museum, LA Master Chorale, the Getty Center, in tunnels, mountains, gardens, and in water.
Kion Heidari
Kion Heidari is an LA-based vocal artist, composer/musician, and actor. Ensembles he sings with include HEX, Tonality, and the LA Master Chorale. He performs in new opera and musical theatre productions and specializes in choral, folk, contemporary, and classical styles. Past credits include Randy Newman’s FAUST at the Soraya (2024), Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands (2024), At War With Ourselves (2023, as a soloist with Kronos Quartet), and The Conference of the Birds (2022, music by Fahad Siadat). Kion is also a voice actor for video games, and was recently a featured actor in a new theatrical production of Alice in Wonderland (2024, music by Brooke DeRosa).
Scott Graff
Praised for his purity of tone and expressive musicianship, bass/baritone Scott Graff has appeared as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Musica Angelica, the Carmel Bach Festival, California Bach Society, HEX, and Synchromy. Now in his 24th season with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, he was part of their touring company presenting a staged production of Orlando di Lasso’s monumental Lagrime di San Pietro (directed by Peter Sellars) which was featured at the Salzburg Festival and has been seen in concerts halls around the world. Scott has also participated in soundtrack recordings for more than 70 feature films and television projects. He is an instructor of voice on the music faculty of Pomona College in Claremont, California.
Molly Pease
Molly Pease is a versatile, experimental and collaborative vocal artist and composer whose singing has been described as “sonically mesmerizing” (LA Weekly) and “amazing” (LADC), and whose compositions defy genre. Molly premiered multiple solo roles in The Industry’s acclaimed opera Sweet Land (2020), and performed as a background vocalist with Björk on her 2022 Cornucopia tour. Solo performances include N.E.O. Voice Festival (2023) and Tune-Yards at Walt Disney Concert Hall (2020). Molly sings with HEX, LA Master Chorale, C3LA, Tonality, LA Choral Lab and First Congregational Church of LA’s Laude. Theatre credits include Cynossema with Overtone Industries (2023), Conference of the Birds with Resonance Collective (2022), and hell prepared with theatre dybbuk (2019).
As a performer-composer, Molly incorporates improvisation, extended vocal sounds and inter-disciplinary collaboration. Examples include her album Inner Astronomy, and Score for the Near Future with sculptor Jimena Sarno. Molly’s experimental rock album ACKLAND was pegged as “not of this world” (Emerging Indie Bands, 2018). She was a 2019 composer fellow at N.E.O. Voice Festival. Molly has an MFA in Jazz Studies from California Institute of the Arts (2017). www.mollypeasemusic.com
Composer & Librettist Teams:
Brian Gyamfi
Brian Gyamfi is a Ghanaian American writer from Texas. He is a recipient of the Pushcart Prize, two Hopwood Awards, and a finalist for the National Poetry Series and the Poetry International Prize. He is a contributing editor at Oxford Poetry.
Collin Kemeny
Collin Kemeny is a composer whose works range experimental, multidisciplinary-shows that utilize found objects and audience participation to intimate concert music. While color and timbre drive his artistic voice, his works thematically explore music's abstract, sentimental, and communicative attributes. Collin holds a DMA from the University of Texas at Austin and has received commissions by Overtone Industries, North Coast Winds, Wild Prairie Winds, Time Canvas Trio, FiveOne Experimental Orchestra, Boulder Altitude Directive, Ajax String Quartet, and others. Collin has earned awards and recognitions from Vesper, Playground Ensemble, Austin Chamber Music Center, and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and is a recipient of SOURCE funding, a Rainwater Innovation Grant, and a Clock teaching award. Additionally, he held fellowships at the Talis Festival and Academy, Oregon Bach Festival, Impulse New Music Festival, and Original Vision. Outside of composing, Collin is an avid hiker and gardener - often finding inspiration from nature.
Ruth Margraff
Ruth Margraff is acclaimed for writing martial arts operas with Fred Ho (Apollo, Guggenheim, LaMama, Brooklyn Academy of Music, CAMI). Her monologue for SEVEN was introduced by Diane von Furstenberg and Meryl Streep at the Broadway Hudson–translated into more than 20 languages. Her CAFE ANTARSIA ENSEMBLE toured to Greece, Turkey, France, Azerbaijan, Egypt, UK, Romania, Canada, Croatia, Czech Rep, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, etc. Ruth's MIRROR BUTTERFLY opera for Afro Yaqui Music Collective premiered at the New Hazlett (Pittsburgh), Kennedy Center (DC), NET (Tucson), 1st Mesopotamian Water Forum (Kurdistan); and was released on Innova Records. In NYC: Here Arts Center, Joe’s Pub, BAMCafé, Prelude/Segal, Hourglass, LaguardiaPAC; Chocolate Factory, PS122; Chicago: Trap Door, Red Tape, Links Hall and Pivot Arts Festival. Awards include Rockefeller, McKnight, Jerome, NEA, TCG, TMUNY, NYSCA, IAC, MASS MoCA, Fulbright; published by Dramatists Play Service, American Theatre, Theater Forum, Performing Arts Journal, TDR, Applause, Backstage, Lexington Books, Playscripts, Autonomedia, New Village, New Meridian…She's been a member of Theater Without Borders, New Dramatists, Playwrights’ Center, Chicago Dramatists and is a Professor at the Art Institute of Chicago. www.RuthMargraff.com
Richard Marriot
Richard Marriott is a composer, performer, producer, and instrument builder. He has composed for film, television, dance, theater, opera, and video games, in a wide range of styles. He is the founder and artistic director of Club Foot Orchestra, an ensemble devoted to accompanying silent films. Club Foot has performed at Lincoln Center, BAM, SFJazz, and the Smithsonian Institution. Marriott has collaborated with gamelan virtuosos to create scores for silent titles set in Bali and composed operas including Divide Light and The Passion of Leyla. Music theater projects include Songs & Dances of Imaginary Lands, String of Pearls, and Godmachine. Along with writing scores for choreographers, Marriott composes concertos as well.
Pedro Pascoali
Pedro Pascoali is a 24 year old Brazilian composer. He is currently in the last semester of his undergraduate studies in composition at University of Campinas (Unicamp), in Brazil. Pascoali works with both instrumental and electroacoustic music and his pieces have been performed on several occasions in Brazil and abroad. He is a researcher in musicology under the guidance of Prof. Dr. José Augusto Mannis and begins an Artistic Residence as opera composer at Theatro São Pedro in December.
Creative Team:
Director: O-Lan Jones
O-Lan Jones is an award-winning composer, sound designer, writer, and actress who has been consistently involved in experimental theatre, music, and opera since the age of sixteen. The press has referred to her as an “uncategorizable legend.” She has created original sound designs and scores for over fifty productions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and New York, in collaboration with Padua Hills Playwrights, LA Woman’s Shakespeare Company, the Taper Too, and Bay Area Shakespeare Festival among others. As an actress, she has originated roles in many plays including those of Sam Shepard, Julie Hebert, and Beth Henley. Her screen credits include iconic works like Natural Born Killers, The Truman Show, Seinfeld, The X-Files, Shameless, Edward Scissorhands and two additional Tim Burton films.
Music Director: Fahad Siadat
A “fanciful and downright utopian artist and thinker” (LA Times), Fahad Siadat explores sound as spiritual practice, creating interdisciplinary pieces as a vehicle for unveiling the mystery of our interconnected world. His music is described as “evoking wonder, desire, and terror” (Off Broadway) with narratives that “border on being a spiritual journey” (LA Dance Chronicle).
Working as a performer, composer, conductor, and curator, Fahad is the director of the Resonance Collective and the award-winning vocal ensemble HEX. His music has been performed in Europe, China, and across the United States.
Set Design: Buddy System (Eileen Boylan & Kati Rediger)
Buddy System is a production design and fabrication partnership based in Los Angeles and personified by Eileen Seton and Kati Rediger. These gals are obsessed with bringing the projects they work on to vivid, whirling, swirling life. It’s true that they have good taste, highly skilled hands and excellent execution skills and that they prize storytelling, above all else, but actually the most important thing they bring to every job is a good attitude. Eileen and Kati created Buddy System because they believe that creation IS collaboration. No one should get “left behind” in any part of the production process, and that trust between partners is essential when bringing a creative vision to life. You can trust the Buddy System.
Stage Manager: Aylin Garcia
Aylin Garcia (Stage Manager) has previously worked on Tartuffe, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, and 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee. She is excited to be working with such an amazing cast and crew.
Lighting Design: Omar Madkour
Omar Madkour is a Lighting Designer from Cairo, Egypt & currently based in Los Angeles. Recent shows include God Will Do The Rest at LATC; Mr. Romantic and Inherit The Wind at Pasadena Playhouse; Medea Refracted at The Getty Villa, Until Until Until… at MCA in Chicago. Omar’s experience in lighting ranges between live performance, museums, themed entertainment, and architectural lighting.
O-Lan Jones, Artistic Director
Fahad Siadat, Executive Director
Michelle Magaldi, Producing Director
Elliot Menard, Director of Operations
Liz Eldridge, Development and Communications Director
Board of Directors: Sabina Zuniga Varela, Nicki Harper, Paul Chwe MinChul An, Kate Noonan