'little match girl passion' + KAROLAOKE

OPERA ERRATICA & THE COVERYARD present an alternative Xmas event:

David Lang’s the little match girl passion
in a new site-specific staging
+
KAROLAOKE
carolling for the Spotify era
11th & 12th December at SHAPES in Hackney Wick

Putting a new spin on the traditional Christmas concert, OPERA ERRATICA and THE COVERYARD are presenting a staged production of David Lang’s beautiful and devastating the little match girl passion (Pulitzer Prize winner, 2008) alongside a festive KAROLAOKE set of sing-a-long pop/classical crossover covers and carol arrangements, at SHAPES, a large converted warehouse space in Hackney Wick.

This site-specific, participatory music theatre event stages an evening-long transition from winter cold and isolation to communal warmth and good cheer (complete with mince pies and mulled wine). While drawing on contemporary, traditional and pop repertoire, the performance engages with the contradictions and enduring poignancy of the holidays.

The first part of the programme makes use of the venue’s huge, resonant interior to explore themes of isolation and social alienation: the darker side of the Christmas season. Opera Erratica’s ensemble of singers presents a staging of David Lang’s the little match girl passion, a 35-minute cantata based on Hans Christian Andersen’s famous story and inspired by Bach’s St Matthew Passion. This emotionally powerful work, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008, has proven to be one of the most enduring new music pieces of recent years.

The second half of the evening transports the audience from bitter cold to fireside warmth for an intimate performance by the pop/classical hybrid ensemble The Coveryard. For this KAROLAOKE (carol karaoke), the audience is invited to join in with performances of traditional songs, from Medieval carols to Mariah Carey, via Nina Simone and Sufjan Stevens, performed by the Coveryard’s eight-piece ensemble, featuring guest vocalists and members of Opera Erratica.

Directed by: Patrick Eakin Young
Music Directors: Will Gardner (Opera Erratica) & Sarah Latto (The Coveryard)

Opera Erratica is a London-based performance company who create contemporary musical spectacles. Their most recent production, Triptych, a trio of new experimental operas, presented at The Print Room and the Spitalfields Music Festival in May/June 2014, was described by Fiona Maddocks in The Observer as: “Novel, stimulating and joyful. It may prove a highlight of the year.” Previous work include the holographic puppet opera Toujours et Près de Moi in 2012, performed with EXAUDI, and the Handel/Schoenberg mash-up opera Orlando Lunaire. Their new multimedia installation opera La Celestina, was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and will be presented there in March 2015.

“There is a sense of potential burning from these ambitious artists. I can’t wait to see more of their work” – Guy Dammann, The Guardian

Since its inception in 2012, The Coveryard has set itself apart as one of London’s most unique live music nights. Each night hosts emerging acts, handpicked from the best of the electronic, folk and alternative music scene in London and across the UK. Working with a small team of orchestrators, each artist’s music is reimagined for an in-house chamber orchestra and choir, creating a unique collision of electronic, acoustic and classical sound worlds.

“Spellbinding” – Time Out

“One of London’s most beautiful and unique new music nights” – greatlittleplace.com