Name: Antarctica
Start: 2023-01-05T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-01-08T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Carriageworks

Organization

Sydney Festival

Conductor

Jack Symonds

Stage director

Imara Savage

Set designer

Elizabeth Gadsby

Costume designer

Video designer

Mike Daly

Lighting designer

Alexander Berlage

Sound designer

Bob Scott

Singer

Jane Sheldon

Captain's daughter

Jessica O'Donoghue

The Theologian

Anna Fraser

The Natural Philosopher

Michael Petruccelli

The Cartographer

Simon Lobelson

The Captain

Orchestra

Asko/Schönberg

Sydney Chamber Opera

English

Antarctica

Sydney City

Australia

Carriageworks

Public

Private

Approved

The cartographer, the natural scientist and the philosopher – three archetypes from the Age of Discovery – set sail for the last great wilderness. Their sepia past meets a vivid future on the frozen plains of Antarctica in a magnificent new opera by Mary Finsterer (composer) and Tom Wright (librettist).  

After a dazzling premiere in the 2022 Holland Festival, Sydney Chamber Opera will perform Antarctica on home soil, featuring renowned Dutch new music ensemble, Asko|Schönberg.  

Finsterer’s intriguing blend of Renaissance-inspired and contemporary music styles is mirrored by period characters in a brilliant, futuristic digital set. The fascinating musical palette is amplified by the sounds of the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic itself.

Director Imara Savage, designers Elizabeth Gadsby and Alexander Berlage, and filmmaker Mike Daly have realised a beautiful and enthralling vision that amplifies the filmic experience of the opera – transcending space, time and memory. 

This is epic opera on a chamber scale from an all-Australian cast and creative team in collaboration with one of the world’s finest contemporary music groups.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Co-Producer