Blushnow
BlushNOW is Blush Opera's contemporary music arm, supporting new compositions and productions which have an interest in contemporary themes and stories that reflect 21st century culture and life. BlushNOW serves to premiere new productions, support young composers in their quest to bring new opera to the stage.
PROJECTS
The Parts We Give is an operatic song cycle by Christine Pan exploring the nuanced presentation of love of an immigrant Chinese family residing in Australia.
Papered is an in-development work focusing on the life of Australian design icon Florence Broadhurst. Written by a collaborative team of four composers and librettists, the work examines Broadhurst’s life in Shanghai, London and Sydney.
Songs of the Sirens is a unique ocean-side operatic experience. Experience vocal virtuosity as these mythological women resurface to melodically and visually inscribe their stories into the sand during a mesmerizing 30-minute ritual performance of intertwining operatic arias and new bespoke melodies.
Chop Chef is a new opera by Julie Koh and Paul Smith which is inspired by and satirises reality television cooking competitions such as Masterchef. Chop Chef’s premiere production was presented and livestreamed as part of Riverside Theatres 2021 season.
12THREADS is Blush Opera’s art song project which aims to develop and present contemporary Australian art songs written by women. This project brings together diverse teams consisting of writers, singers, instrumentalists and composers who work together in a series of workshops to prepare new works.
Fancy Me Dead is an original opera composed and written by Paul Smith. Having its premiere at the Festival of Voices 2015 in Hobart, it has also been performed twice in Sydney at the New Music Network Mini Series Festival in 2016 and at Bondi Feast Festival in 2017 with a new chamber ensemble arrangement.
The Spider Maiden and the Runaway Plum Blossom is a creation of Paul Smith's, written for the Kris Foundation Singapore. It had it's premiere in October 2016 at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore. Since then it has been programmed at the Site and Sounds Festival in Sydney and the Bellingen Fine Music Festival in 2018.
How to Build a Billy is a madcap chamber opera where two opera singers must build a Billy bookcase live on stage while telling the story of two siblings struggling to cope with their mother’s ever-growing book collection. It premiered in 2018 at Bondi Feast Festival.
Fantasy Songs is a song cycle drawing on classic figures on mythology, lore and fantasy literature. Each song depicts a short narrative of a different character. It is designed for 2-6 voices.