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UID:c5f21ebf-a037-4ff4-b953-325619a5bb62@findlocal.community
DTSTAMP:20261017T052413Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261119T180000
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SUMMARY:makemake presents: Sensorium World
DESCRIPTION:What happens when technology stops speaking for us and begins
  listening to us? Sensorium Ex imagines a future where artificial intell
 igence becomes a tool for agency rather than control\, blurring the boun
 daries between human expression and machine possibility. Part dystopian 
 opera\, part technological breakthrough\, it asks who gets to define wha
 t a voice - and a person - can be. What’s a Rich Text element? The rich 
 text element allows you to create and format headings\, paragraphs\, blo
 ckquotes\, images\, and video all in one place instead of having to add 
 and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create conten
 t. Static and dynamic content editing A rich text element can be used wi
 th static or dynamic content. For static content\, just drop it into any
  page and begin editing. For dynamic content\, add a rich text field to 
 any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the
  settings panel. Voila! How to customize formatting for each rich text H
 eadings\, paragraphs\, blockquotes\, figures\, images\, and figure capti
 ons can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element us
 ing the "When inside of" nested selector system. Sensorium Ex is develop
 ed and presented with support from the Ford Foundation’s Creativity and 
 Free Expression Arts and Culture (CFE A&C) program\, the Mellon Foundati
 on\, the Doris Duke Foundation’s Performing Arts Technologies Lab\, Jill
  and Bill Steinberg\, National Sawdust\, Achelis & Bodman Foundation\, a
 nd New Music USA. The commissioning of Paola Prestini for Sensorium Ex r
 eceived funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers pr
 ogram supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Additional commis
 sioning support was provided by the Allen R and Judy Brick Freedman Vent
 ure Fund for New Music. Additional production support was provided by th
 e National Endowment for the Arts\, and Elizabeth Madigan Jost\, with de
 velopment support from the American Academy in Rome\, Artscape Theatre C
 entre - Cape Town\, The Shed\, Performance Space New York\, the REACH at
  The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts\, Washington Nationa
 l Opera\, New York State Council on the Arts. Sensorium Ex is also prese
 nted with support from Creative Capital Foundation for Paola Prestini. T
 he world premiere performances of Sensorium Ex in the Common Senses Fest
 ival are made possible through the generous support of the Holland Found
 ation. Additional commissioning support from The Atlanta Opera. ‍ Music 
 by Paola Prestini Libretto by Brenda Shaughnessy Creative Development by
  Paola Prestini\, Brenda Shaughnessy and Jerron Herman Directed by Jay S
 cheib and Jerron Herman Music Directed by Elizabeth Askren Creative Prod
 ucing by Beth Morrison and Ras Dia Mem: Hailey McAvoy Kitsune: Jakob Jor
 dan Cello: Jeffrey Zeigler Composer: Paola Prestini Libretto: Brenda Sha
 ughnessy Director: Jay Scheib Creative Producers: Beth Morrison and Ras 
 Dia Associate Sound Designer: Zo McGlynn Video Designer: Peter Torpey Se
 nsorium AI Software Designer and Project Director: Luke DuBois VisionInt
 oArt Impact Lab Fellow for Sensorium AI: Daniella Omeruo VisionIntoArt I
 mpact Lab Fellow for Sensorium Ex: Greg Moomjy Communication Partner to 
 Mr. Jordan: Julie Sando Co-commissioner and Photographer: Jill Steinberg
  Live Camera Operator and Directing Assistant: Xinyu Xu Created by compo
 ser Paola Prestini and librettist Brenda Shaughnessy and directed by Jay
  Scheib\, the narrative of Sensorium Ex is a dystopian sci-fi tale that 
 explores the intersection of corporate greed\, artificial intelligence\,
  and the fundamental nature of the human voice. Set in a future dominate
 d by a global entity known as 'CORP\,' the story revolves around the str
 uggle for agency and the definition of humanity. The story focuses on Dr
 . Mem\, a scientist working for CORP\, and her non-verbal\, non-ambulato
 ry son\, Kitsune. Mem has dedicated her life to developing technology th
 at can 'unlock' Kitsune’s voice\, believing that clear communication is 
 the key to his dignity and agency. The opera shifts from a corporate thr
 iller to a mystical escape. As they attempt to flee CORP's 'colossal con
 fines\,' the narrative places the ultimate power in Kitsune's hands. Kit
 sune must use his voice\, expressed through Sensorium AI – to guide the 
 group through an otherworldly realm. ‍ The Role of AI in Sensorium Ex Se
 nsorium Ex uses AI to lend 'voice' to non-verbal or minimally verbal per
 formers. Developed by R. Luke Dubois and NYU’s Ability Lab\, Sensorium A
 I uses 'vocal sampling' to create a natural-sounding digital voice for t
 he lead character\, Kitsune. Rather than a robotic text-to-speech output
  (like traditional AAC devices)\, the AI analyzes the performer’s own un
 ique vocalizations to synthesize an expressive\, operatic voice. Perform
 ers use LiDAR sensors—similar to those in self-driving cars—to control t
 he AI-generated voice in real time. By moving their hands\, they can man
 ipulate the pitch\, pace and emotion allowing for a truly live\, improvi
 sational performance. The Sensorium Project is a VisionIntoArt Productio
 n. Commissioned by VisionIntoArt in association with Beth Morrison Proje
 cts\, and Common Senses Festival Developed and Produced by VisionIntoArt
  and Beth Morrison Projects. Sensorium Ex is developed and presented wit
 h support from the Ford Foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression Arts
  and Culture (CFE A&C) program\, the Mellon Foundation\, the Doris Duke 
 Foundation’s Performing Arts Technologies Lab\, Jill and Bill Steinberg\
 , National Sawdust\, Achelis & Bodman Foundation\, and New Music USA. Th
 e commissioning of Paola Prestini for Sensorium Ex received funding from
  OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers program supported by t
 he Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation\, Additional commissioning support was
  provided by the Allen R and Judy Brick Freedman Venture Fund for New Mu
 sic.\, Additional production support was provided by the National Endowm
 ent for the Arts\, and Elizabeth Madigan Jost\, with development support
  from the American Academy in Rome\, Artscape Theatre Centre - Cape Town
 \, The Shed\, Performance Space New York\, the REACH at The John F. Kenn
 edy Center for the Performing Arts\, Washington National Opera\, New Yor
 k State Council on the Arts.\, Sensorium Ex is also presented with suppo
 rt from Creative Capital Foundation for Paola Prestini. The world premie
 re of Sensorium Ex\, presented May 22–25\, 2025 at the Common Senses Fes
 tival in Omaha\, Nebraska\, was made possible through the generous suppo
 rt of the Holland Foundation. Additional commissioning support from The 
 Atlanta Opera ABOUT MAKEMAKE ‍ ‍ makemake debuts this year as National S
 awdust’s annual festival inviting artists to imagine futures - making\, 
 remixing\, rethinking. ‍ ‍ ‍ Named after the dwarf planet that reshaped 
 how we define a world\, and the Rapa Nui creator deity of fertility - ma
 kemake is about generating new forms: of art\, of access\, of community.
 This is a festival that celebrates imagination\, and the radical invitat
 ion to ratify accessibility by design\, not as an afterthought. This is 
 a festival that centers the belief that care is crucial\, and that equit
 y is essential. This is a festival for everyone\, but especially for tho
 se who want to shape what comes next. Expect immersive performances\, ev
 olving technologies\, ecstatic raves\, late night conversations\, and un
 expected collisions between artists\, technologists\, activists\, and co
 mmunities. Rooted in disability-led design and imagination\, this is a s
 pace where access is a creative engine reshaping how we gather\, sense\,
  and move together. Through a lens of tech optimism\, we explore how eme
 rging tools can expand agency\, deepen connection\, and unlock new forms
  of expression. Expect spaces designed for care\, curiosity\, and connec
 tion. Expect to move\, to question\, to co-create. This is a seated perf
 ormance. If you require accessibility accommodations\, please email boxo
 ffice@nationalsawdust.org. ‍ ABOUT BRENDA SHAUGHNESSY\, LIBRETTIST Photo
  by Janea Wiedmann Brenda Shaughnessy is a poet and Sensorium Ex’s libre
 ttist. Born in Okinawa\, Japan and raised in Southern California\, she w
 as educated at University of California\, Santa Cruz\, and Columbia Univ
 ersity. She’s the author of several books of poetry\, including Tanya (2
 023\, Knopf\,) The Octopus Museum (2019\, Knopf\,) Our Andromeda (2012\,
  Copper Canyon\,) and Interior with Sudden Joy (1999\, FSG.) Her work’s 
 been supported by the American Academy of Arts and Letters\, the Guggenh
 eim Foundation\, the Institute for Advanced Study at Radcliffe\, the N.E
 .A./Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission\, and other arts and humanities ins
 titutions. An English Professor at Rutgers University-Newark\, she is al
 ways inspired by poetry’s stellar next generation: her students in the M
 .F.A. program\, who know their voices are their power\, their truth. She
  lives in New Jersey with her family. ‍ ABOUT PAOLA PRESTINI\, COMPOSER 
 Composer Paola Prestini has cultivated a uniquely expansive and humanist
 ic musical voice\, through pieces that transcend genre and discipline\, 
 and projects whose global impact reverberates beyond the walls of the co
 ncert hall. Far more than just notes on a page\, Prestini’s works give v
 oice to those whom society has silenced\, and offer a platform for the c
 auses that are most vital to us all. Prestini has been named one of the 
 Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music by the Washington Post\, one 
 of the top 100 Composers in the World by National Public Radio\, and one
  of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America. As Co-Found
 er of National Sawdust\, she has collaborated with luminaries like poet 
 Robin Coste Lewis\, visual artists Julie Mehretu and Nick Cave\, and mus
 ical legends David Byrne\, Philip Glass and Renée Fleming\, and her work
 s have been performed throughout the world with leading institutions lik
 e the New York Philharmonic\, Los Angeles Opera\, Dallas Opera\, London’
 s Barbican Center\, Mexico’s Bellas Artes\, and many more. ‍ ABOUT JAY S
 CHEIB\, DIRECTOR Photo by Helen Duras Jay Scheib is an interdisciplinary
  director\, developer\, and designer of plays\, operas\, musicals and ot
 her hybrid live performance immersions. A Professor\, scheib heads the M
 usic and Theater Arts programs at MIT. Scheib’s stagings and interventio
 ns have been lauded throughout Europe and the United States. Current pro
 jects include Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal\,” with the Bayreuther Festspie
 le\, a UK tour of Jim Steinman’s “Bat Out of Hell\,” and a season of rap
 id prototype plays at MIT under the banner #socialclimatechange. Scheib 
 holds an MFA from Columbia University. ‍ ABOUT HALEY MCAVOY\, ROLE OF ME
 M Recognized as a “gorgeous-voiced mezzo-soprano\,” (Broadway World)\, H
 ailey McAvoy is a versatile performer of opera\, song\, and concert. McA
 voy’s recent operatic performances include appearing as Mem in Paola Pre
 stini’s Sensorium Ex and as Julia Child in Lee Hoiby’ Bon Appetit with O
 pera Praktikos. Additional roles in her repertoire include Third Lady (T
 he Magic Flute\; MassOpera)\, Third Woodsprite (Dvorak\, Rusalka\; Opera
  Ithaca)\, the Page of Herodias (Strauss\, Salome\; Fisher Center of Per
 forming Arts)\, The Taller Daughter (Mazzoli\, Proving Up\; Aspen Music 
 Festival)\, Zosha (Heggie\, Out of Darkness\; Eastman Opera Theater)\, C
 herubino (Le Nozze di Figaro\; Aquilon Music Festival)\, and in select p
 erformances as a Young Artist with Cedar Rapids Opera and Opera Ithaca. 
 Equally active as a concert performer\, McAvoy has recently made her Gre
 ene Space recital debut in a concert broadcast to WQXR with pianist Alis
 on d’Amato. She has also appeared as guest soloist in Ravel’s Shéhérazad
 e with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and as a soloist at Opera Itha
 ca in performance of Molly Joyce’s YouSaidHeSaidSheSaid. In 2024\, McAvo
 y was an artist in residence at Hogfish Regenerative Arts Portland\, Mai
 ne\, where\, in addition to singing the role of Newspaper Vendor in Poul
 enc’s Breasts of Tiresias\, she began developing a concert of original m
 usic which explores themes of disability\, accessibility\, and what it m
 eans to feel at home in one’s body. As a performer with the neurological
  condition Cerebral Palsy\, McAvoy is committed to amplifying the discus
 sion around disability in the arts in order to make the performing arts 
 more inclusive for all. She recently published essays on accessibility i
 n the arts in AGMAzine and Our Singing Bodies and she has appeared as a 
 panelist on accessibility forums with such organizations as Opera Ithaca
  and Opera NexGen. To learn more about McAvoy’s singing and Cerebral Pal
 sy\, visit www.HaileyMcAvoy.com ‍ ABOUT JAKOB JORDAN\, ROLE OF KITSUNE P
 hoto by Paul Leiber Jakob Jordan is a 23 year old autistic man from Ohio
 . He is apraxic so his body does not respond to the commands in his brai
 n. With the help of a trained communication partner he learned how to co
 mmunicate his inner thoughts through spelling words one letter at a time
 \, on a wireless keyboard and ipad in August 2023. It opened up his life
  in the most expansive ways. He is an artist who runs his own business c
 alled Cards By Jakob. He is passionate about his new acting career. Jako
 b is thrilled and honored to be a part of the sensorium Ex community. He
  relates deeply to his role of Kitsune as they share the struggles of be
 ing trapped in an unreliable body. Jakob is so excited to bring him to l
 ife. Being a part of Sensorium Ex’s inclusive mission has sparked a fire
  in his heart to dream beyond barriers. His next big dream is to educate
  parents\, professionals\, and students with his best friend Andrew abou
 t apraxia and believing autistic people are capable of anything. He live
 s in an agriculture community with his mom\, 9 cats\, 2 dogs\, and a lot
  of fur. He enjoys watching sports at his dads\, performing in hip hop d
 ance competitions\, baking cookies with his grandma\, and going to as ma
 ny New Kids On The Block concerts as possible. You can find him on his C
 ards By Jakob facebook page. ‍ ABOUT NATIONAL SAWDUST ENSEMBLE National 
 Sawdust Ensemble (NSE)\, led by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler\, is the in-hous
 e band of National Sawdust. Made up of highly acclaimed artists who are 
 or have been members of the Kronos Quartet\, Da Capo Chamber Players\, N
 ew York New Music Ensemble\, the Internationally Contemporary Ensemble\,
  Imani Winds\, Flutronix\, this instrumentally flexible group is an inte
 gral part of National Sawdust Mentorship Initiatives\, playing\, teachin
 g and collaborating with emerging and professional composers from the Bl
 ueprint Bridge Fellowship with The Juilliard School\, as well as the int
 ernationally renowned Hildegard Commission Concert for composers who are
  women and other marginalized genders. The mission of the ensemble is to
  give composers and artists access to the high caliber of musicianship t
 hat is native to National Sawdust. The NSE has also supported projects s
 uch as Liederabend\, Senses with Beth Morrison Projects\; the Hildegard 
 Sonic Installation at the Rockefeller Center\; and the Cavafy Festival: 
 ‘Archive of Desire’\, with the Onassis Foundation.\n\nTickets: https://c
 i.ovationtix.com/36490/production/1280641\n\nhttps://findlocal.community
 /event/c5f21ebf-a037-4ff4-b953-325619a5bb62
LOCATION:National Sawdust\, Brooklyn\, NY
URL:https://findlocal.community/event/c5f21ebf-a037-4ff4-b953-325619a5bb6
 2
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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