Music and the Brain - opera about brain damage. Nominated for Gríman in Iceland in 2022 for “outstanding innovation.” The opera addresses the neurological and emotional effects that music can have on us. Inspired by the writings of neurologist Oliver Sacks, it tells the story of The Singer, whose successful career has been cut short by an accident. The resulting brain injury has caused her to lose the ability to comprehend music and perform. She is treated by The Doctor, who, as well as being a fan of The Singer, hopes that his research on this rare and interesting case will redeem him in the eyes of the academic community. As they both grapple with trying to understand the Singer's condition, questions regarding the nature of music arise. What is music? Is it neurological? Or emotional? What happens in the musical brain when things fall apart? But the Doctor is nearly out of time, his big presentation is coming up and he needs to present his "findings" no matter what.

Music and the Brain opera is inspired by Oliver Sacks' 2007 book Musicophilia, which is composed of numerous fascinating case studies about people with extraordinary relationship with music due to various brain trauma. The characters in Ingvarsson's and Hurt's opera, The Doctor and The Singer, are an amalgamation of some of those people, but the story they tell, is not directly linked to the book.

THE MUSIC

The opera features a broad selection of musical styles: from delicate pastiche bel canto arias to experimental semi-improvised recitative cacophonies.

SAMANTEKT

Óperan „Tónlist og Heilinn“, innblásin af skrifum taugafræðingsins Oliver Sacks, fjallar um þau taugafræðilegu sem og tilfinningalegu áhrif sem tónlist getur haft á okkur. Við kynnumst Söngkonunni, en hún þjáist af heilaskaða eftir alvarlegt höfuðhögg sem batt skyndilega enda á feril hennar. Heilaskaðinn sem af högginu hlaust olli því að hún tapaði sinni venjulegu skynjun á tónlist, hún getur því ekki lengur sungið eins og hún er vön né komið fram. Læknirinn reynir að komast að orsök vandamálsins, en hann vonar að rannsókn sín á þessu áhugaverða og sérstaka tilfelli muni veita honum frægð og frama innan vísindasamfélagsins. Er þau basla við að reyna að skilja ástand Söngkonunnar spretta upp spurningar um eðli tónlistar, en Læknirinn er að renna út á tíma. Stóri fyrirlesturinn hans er handan við hornið og hann verður að kynna niðurstöður sínar hvað sem tautar og raular.

USP 1: Psychiatric angle ‘opera about brain damage’.

USP 2: Inspired by Oliver Sacks - a known writer; literary.

USP 3: Successful premiere run in Iceland, a tour to Sweden and England. 16 performances to date (October 2022).

USP 4: nominated for Gríman award in Iceland (see “awards”).

USP 5: Icelandic-English team of artists.

USP 6: Positive review in Opera Magazine in 2022.

Theme 1: An opera about singing - a type of metatheatre.

Theme 2: Literary/Oliver Sacks.

Theme 3: psychiatry/the mind.

Nominated in 2022 for Gríman (Iceland annual stage arts awards) in the category “Sproti ársins” which gives an award for "originality or outstanding innovation."

More here: http://helgiingvarsson.com/news/2022/6/9/music-and-the-brain-nominated-for-grman-stage-arts-awards

PAST

19 October 2022: The Tung Auditorium, University of Liverpool, Liverpool UK.

9 September 2022: Tete a Tete opera festival, London UK. The Cockpit Theatre.

7-8 August 2022: Nordic Song Festival, Trollhättan Sweden.

October-November 2021: Premiere at Demetz Academy Hall, Reykjavík, Iceland.

March 2020: A semi-open work in progress performances at Salurinn hall, Kópavogur, Iceland. Supported by List fyrir Alla (Art for All) and Kópavogsbær (Kópavogur city council).

Spring 2017: An open, work-in-progress performance at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre, London. Supported by Guildhall’s Doctoral Candidate Development Fund.

2017

2017 cast (work-in-progress London performance): Nick Morton tenor & Rannveig Káradóttir soprano. Katherine Tinker on piano. Helen Whitaker on flute. Adam Bushel on percussion.

The development of the work was supported by Guildhall’s Doctoral Candidate Development Fund. At that time the piece was titled “After the fall” and received a work-in-progress performance at the Lion and Unicorn theatre, London.

2019-21

In 2019-21 the opera was revised and given a new title: “Music and the Brain” and given a development performance in March 2020 at Salurinn, Kópavogur, Iceland with funds from List fyrir Alla and Kópavogsbær (Kópavogur council).

2020-2021 cast (development performance and premiere in Reykjavík, Iceland): Gunnar Guðbjörnsson tenor & Þórgunnur Anna Örnólfsdóttir mezzo-soprano. Helen Whitaker on flute, Antonía Hevesí on piano, Helgi R. Ingvarsson on electroncis.

2021

In 2021 the opera was premiered at Demetz Academy Hall, Reykjavík. More here: http://helgiingvarsson.com/news/2021/11/10/music-and-the-brain-opera-a-hit-in-iceland