The Naciketa Project
"Every child has the right to be alive and be protected from violence and abuse.
Governments and countries must make sure that children survive and develop in the best possible way.”
From articles 6 and 19 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, Children’s version.
A new contemporary chamber opera combining Indian classical and Western contemporary music.
Composer Nigel Osborne’s Naciketa, with words by playwright Ariel Dorfman, is a new contemporary chamber opera steeped in the ragas of India, the ancient Indian form of song, Dhrupad, the edgy urban Hi-Life rhythms of Africa and the melos of Chilean Nueva canción. It’s the next step in a line of operas in which Osborne integrates modernist and traditional music to create innovative music theatre. Ariel Dorfman’s libretto marries the traditional musical forms with a storyline that takes place in communities which Osborne has come to know as an aid worker and whose human rights Dorfman has defended. The story is inspired by the Upanishads, the Brahmin spiritual texts in which two protagonists, Music, and the boy, Naciketa, wrangle with Death/Yama, and by the fate of the lost children of our time; child prostitutes, child soldiers and those orphaned through oppression and conflict. Commissioned and produced by Opera Circus. This will be a concert performance with soundscape created by Nigel Osborne. A Live Science event with x-system technology and Music for WellBeing activities.
Date: TBA
Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank London
Governments and countries must make sure that children survive and develop in the best possible way.”
From articles 6 and 19 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, Children’s version.
A new contemporary chamber opera combining Indian classical and Western contemporary music.
Composer Nigel Osborne’s Naciketa, with words by playwright Ariel Dorfman, is a new contemporary chamber opera steeped in the ragas of India, the ancient Indian form of song, Dhrupad, the edgy urban Hi-Life rhythms of Africa and the melos of Chilean Nueva canción. It’s the next step in a line of operas in which Osborne integrates modernist and traditional music to create innovative music theatre. Ariel Dorfman’s libretto marries the traditional musical forms with a storyline that takes place in communities which Osborne has come to know as an aid worker and whose human rights Dorfman has defended. The story is inspired by the Upanishads, the Brahmin spiritual texts in which two protagonists, Music, and the boy, Naciketa, wrangle with Death/Yama, and by the fate of the lost children of our time; child prostitutes, child soldiers and those orphaned through oppression and conflict. Commissioned and produced by Opera Circus. This will be a concert performance with soundscape created by Nigel Osborne. A Live Science event with x-system technology and Music for WellBeing activities.
Date: TBA
Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank London