opera Archives - Jessica Rudman

Original Gravity Podcast

Posted on October 20, 2017October 19, 2017 by Jessica

When I was at Electronic Music Midwest in Sept., I had the pleasure of being the guest on an episode of the Original Gravity Podcast. The podcast is a companion to the Original Gravity Concert Series in MA, which presents new music in breweries and similar locations.

Hosted by Keith Kirchoff and guest-hosted by Eric Honour, this episode covers home brewing, electronic music (including Concertina No. 1: Cathedrals), the Marie Curie Opera, and more. There’s even a previously unreleased excerpt from the opera draft included in the podcast. You can check it out on the Podbean app or listen online.

Opera Without Borders Sunday Spotlight

Posted on March 12, 2017April 28, 2017 by Jessica

The Hartford Opera Theater‘s blog “Opera Without Borders” highlights various composers and performers each Sunday. I was recently featured in their 2/19 post, which includes some of my thoughts about their theme:

“To me, “Opera without Borders” means connection – connection with words and music, connection with ideas and issues relevant to today, and most importantly, connection with people…”

Video of “Trigger”

Posted on September 18, 2016September 18, 2016 by Jessica

A video of my new mini-opera “Trigger” is now available on YouTube! The work was written for soprano Afton Forsberg and the 2016 Opera from Scratch workshop, where it was premiered by Afton and pianist Simon Docking on Aug. 28, 2016.

The composition was inspired by an incident from the spring of 2014 in Nova Scotia: a woman filed a domestic assault complaint against her boyfriend, and a local law enforcement officer accidentally left a voicemail message at the victim’s number where officers can be heard discussing the case. In the recording (which is available online), an officer can be heard disparaging the woman, implying that she may be lying about her injuries, and asking if she deserved to get hit. I was very disturbed by the incident, and my reactions to it ultimately became realized in Trigger.