Immersive Opera at The Bass

Mexican-American composer Nathan Felix will present his immersive opera titled Mirrors at the The Bass Museum of Art  (2100 Collins Ave) in Miami on Thursday May 15th at 7:00pm for Third Thursday. Mirrors is inspired by their exhibition, Performing Perspectives: A Collection in Dialogue. 

The narrative for the immersive opera follows two immigrant nurses who struggle with new identity and cultural challenges in the USA. The women worry if their future children and grandchildren will face the discrimination they endured. Audience members are encouraged to follow the opera singers as they sing and weave through the museum galleries to tell this story. The cast features local singers and musicians from Miami and the surrounding region including Yingxi Li (soprano), Mark Cotton (baritone), Madison Marie McIntosh (mezzo-soprano), and Pedro Carreras (tenor). The conductor for the opera is Felix Jarrar and the string ensemble consists of Naeun Ju on violin, Angie Bolivar on viola and Natalie Van Winkle on cello. 

Felix is known for his guerilla-style approach in presenting classical music in unconventional spaces and his immersive opera is no exception, with a performance utilizing space, movement, and acoustics to activate the Bass Museum of Art in a way that has yet to be explored.  The idea behind Felix’s immersive opera is similar to a flash mob as it revolves around blurring the line between performer and audience by having musical performers move amongst the audience as they perform a cohesive musical composition. The audience is encouraged to follow the narrative of the piece which entails following the soloists but they are ultimately given agency to explore based on feeling, sight and soundscape. 

Host or Publisher Nathan Felix