Partner Event | Everything for Dawn: A Serial Video Opera

Join Experiments in Opera, a New York City-based company, for a sneak peek at their epic video opera Everything for Dawn.  Written over three years by 15 writers and composers, this 10-episode serial represents a radical new approach to opera. Bringing together different musical styles and voices, and shot in a sound stage, Everything for Dawn is a mesmerizing synthesis of streaming television and theatrical spectacle.  

Everything for Dawn is an original coming-of-age story spanning the 1990s. Dawn is a teenager dealing with the impact of her father’s suicide. Her personal tragedy becomes public when his paintings become celebrated as “outsider art.” With each episode written by a different librettist/composer pairing, the opera is an examination of the ways we seek solace in a broken world, community intersectionality, and the rationale for making art.

Event Timeline:

    1:30 pm - Doors open, drinks and snacks available for purchase

    2:00 pm - Everything for Dawn Screening, Q & A to follow

    4:00 pm - Event concludes  

This screening will include an introduction to the full opera and Episodes 4-7 of Everything for Dawn with librettos by Adrienne Danrich, Jerome A. Parker, Jerry Lieblich, Krista Knight and Jason Cady.  Music for these episodes was composed by Matthew Welch, Aaron Siegel, Melissa Dunphy and Paul Kerekes.

The film screening will be followed by a Q & A conversation with the filmmakers: Director Alison Moritz, Librettists Jason Cady, Jerry Lieblich and  Krista Knight, and composers Melissa Dunphy, Paul Kerekes, and Aaron Siegel.

About Experiments in Opera:

Experiments in Opera is focused on re-writing the story of opera.  We believe that new operas can be adventurous and fun, focused on strong and intimate storytelling, while also challenging notions of what experimental music can be.  EiO invites composers, directors, designers and performers to create new work that embraces unconventional mediums, a range of durations and production scales, and explores collaboration between all types of artists working to share their visions. Co-Founded in Brooklyn in 2010 by composers Aaron Siegel, Matthew Welch and Jason Cady, Experiments in Opera has commissioned 85 new works in ten years, from 55 composers collaborating with over four hundred performers, designers and directors from the New York City artists community. 

Praise for Experiments in Opera: 

“Endearingly idiosyncratic” - The New York Times

“It’s not a traditional opera – it’s more like weird little operettas” - Rolling Stone

“EiO composers doesn’t rely solely on thorny compositional techniques to make their points. Spoken word, synth loops, chamber-music noise, and a wry sense of humor all figure into their compositional styles.” - The New Yorker

For more information about Everything for Dawn including bios of all the artists involved visit Experiments in Opera.

Event Logistics (subject to changed based on NYC regulations):

• For more information about the Museum’s COVID Guidelines, please check our Plan Your Visit page.

• Please contact programs@mcny.org with any questions or ticketing issues

• All sales are final; refunds not permitted. Exchanges and credit for future programs only. Programs and dates may be subject to change. The Museum of the City of New York reserves the right to refuse admission to latecomers and/or those who do not provide requested Covid-19 documentation. Program tickets do not include Museum Admission unless otherwise noted.

 General Admission $15 | Members $10