Following its Dublin premiere at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College Dublin, When Forests Sing, a wordless, co-creative opera led by Cork composer and sound artist Karen Power, will be presented at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival this May.
Bringing together musicians living with disabilities and emerging professional artists, the work is performed by members of OYOI (Open Youth Orchestra of Ireland) alongside students from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and local young people, with technological instrumentalists, choir, composed soundscapes and forest soundscapes forming a large, immersive ensemble.
When Forests Sing celebrates diversity, uniqueness and difference, telling a story of companionship and compassion for all living beings as human voices and the sounds of global forests converge, mix and influence each other. The opera is “wordless” by design, using the language of the forest to make space for communication beyond spoken language, and to deepen the work’s inclusivity.
At the heart of the piece is a surround sound soundscape built from field recordings, including recordings made communally by the inclusive ensemble during a visit to Avondale forest. Further recordings draw on forests from across the Amazon, New Zealand, Australia, Tanzania, Namibia and Argentina. Rather than directing every action, the composed soundscape guides the performers, leaving room for co-creative choices that shape both the composition and the live performance.
This move from a Dublin premiere to Blackwater Valley Opera Festival marks a significant step, bringing an inclusive, collaboratively shaped work into a leading operatic setting. It signals a growing confidence across the sector that co-created practice belongs on major stages, not as a special case, but as part of the mainstream. For the artists involved, it is an opportunity to share a distinctive piece of music theatre with new audiences, and to show how inclusion, high performance, and artistic excellence can be held to the same standard, and strengthened by being developed together.
When Forests Sing takes place on Saturday 30 May at 5.00pm in Lismore Heritage Centre, Co. Waterford. Tickets: €15 BOOK HERE
Creative team includes composer and artistic lead Karen Power, movement director Justine Doswell, choral lead Michelle O’Rourke, lighting design Matt Burke and sound design Alexis Nealon, with RIAM producer Conleth Stanley. The premiere was supported by the Rethink Ireland Disability Participation and Awareness Fund 3.0.