Modern Mondays presents the New York premiere of Star Choir, Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade’s film based on their cosmic opera about a starship crew of humans seeking refuge on a hostile planet named 85K: Aurora. As Aurora defends itself from the crew’s invasive presence, the humans evolve to become a part of a queerly multispecies organism that covers their new world. Star Choir offers a meditation on the challenges and pleasures of mutual coexistence, reimagining humanity as a porous category that must transform to survive. Produced by The Industry, a Los Angeles–based experimental company committed to expanding operatic form, the film chronicles the live premiere of Star Choir in 2023, at the historic Mt. Wilson Observatory, where an ensemble cast and orchestra performed inside the 100-inch telescope.
The screening will be followed by conversation between composer Malik Gaines, librettist and director Alexandro Segade, and Thomas Lax, curator in the Department of Media and Performance.
Star Choir. 2023. USA. Directed by Alexandro Segade. Cinematography by Michael Elias Thomas. Edited by Justin Streichman. Opera performed by vocalists Sarah Beaty, Carmen Edano, Mikaela Elson, Kelci Hahn, Shyheim Selvan Hinnant, Jon Lee Keenan, Ben Lin, and Gregório Taniguchi, with instrumentalists Guillermo E. Brown, Elizabeth Huston, Marlon Martinez, Ethan Philbrick, Malik Taylor, and Lucy Yates. Conducted by Marc Lowenstein. Choreography by Milka Djordejevic. 77 min.