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NONline Opera

Futurists / Circuit

NONline Opera is an ode to a live meeting of an artist and the audience, or live meeting of people in general – as opposed to an online performance or a Zoom meeting. This partly a concert and partly performative “happening” takes form of a collage of events, scenes, music pieces, bits of (made-up) storytelling, videos and absurd comedy sketches – referring to the theater varieté form. NONline Opera is an interactive online/live event based on the music of Circuit, a highly eclectic (experimental rock, hyper jazz, contemporary classical, avant-garde electronics) 8-piece ensemble from London, UK, led by a Polish composer-performer, Jerzy Bielski.

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NONline Opera is a multicultural, cross-genre and interdisciplinary project bringing people from various different countries (Netherlands, Poland, Greece, UK, Portugal, USA, Belgium) together, all of them coming from as broad artistic spectrum as possible (opera, jazz, classical music, contemporary music, electronics, baroque, visual arts, digital culture, theatre). Material used in the performance partly comes from the existing Circuit repertoire and partly it is a new music, lyrics, and theatre text (created by the composer, lyricist, and artistic leader, Jerzy Bielski), new videos and light design (created by filmmaker and light designer, Thomas Brand), and graphic animations (created by audiovisual artist, Tatiana Rosa). The piece is made in a highly interdisciplinary way, which is why it has a “music theatre with multimedia” form.

 

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Apart from the enthusiastic C e l e b r a t i o n  o f  L i v e (however, often with surreal, lost in translation misunderstandings, language mishaps, or speaking in codes instead of openly), this piece it is equally about addressing the issues, which are deeply rooted in our every day reality, such as: over-consumerism, greed, AI and technology-inflicted world, polarisation of societies, and social revolution of today. That’s why, in the end it becomes an attempt to make sense of the chaotic reality we happen to be living in, with a huge chunk of humour and distance to it, focusing on an interaction and creating a bond with the audience. Videos and other visual elements (animation, kinetic text, elaborate lighting) play a very important role in the show as well, emphasising the meaning of messages behind Circuit songs and making the whole experience a wholesome
“feast-for-the-senses”.

 

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Ensemble

Circuit is a highly eclectic (experimental rock, hyper jazz, contemporary classical, avant-garde electronics) 8-piece ensemble from London, UK, led by a Polish composer-performer, Jerzy Bielski. It has an incredibly diverse line up of people coming from different countries (Netherlands, Poland, Greece, UK, Portugal, USA, Belgium) and musical backgrounds (classical music, contemporary music, jazz, electronics, visual arts, digital culture, theatre).

 

 

Circuit received the Emerging Excellence Award from Musicians Benevolent Fund (UK) for album “Codes”.

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A rollicking, ingenious, painstakingly orchestrated record that draws from nearly every available genre of music, Circuit’s “Codes” is an achievement bespeaking musical creative greatness and genuine artistic integrity in its each and every attribute. (…) Like a novel by James Joyce, the album is chock full with signs and symbols.
– MondoTunes (Sean McCauley, Los Angeles)

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The band sounds like nothing else before them (…) even if some compare the group to the likes of Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Loose Tubes or classical composer Gyorgy Ligeti – there are moments when these wide-ranging influences are apparent, but it is safe to say that the style of Circuit is eclectic (…)

[Circuit] is much more than nine instruments on one stage. It‘s a real riddle for a music lover and can by no means be pigeonholed or bore.
– Goniec Polski (London)

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Circuit’s music is a patchwork of all possible styles, a blend of music and performance art that combines sound and silence, images, samples and murmurs.
It’s a deconstructionist approach to music.
– Port Kultury (Katarzyna Gajewska, Gdańsk)

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Song ‘Thank you from the mountain’ simply knocks you off your feet.
– Cooltura (Piotr Dobroniak, London)

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The concert was excellent. It testifies to the fact that the young people without complexes make sounds and harmonies, which are incomprehensible for the ones, who just sit in front of their TVs.
– SPATiF (Arkadiusz Hronowski, Sopot)

 

  

Creative team:
Jerzy Bielski (NL/PL) – Concept, composition, libretto
Thomas Brand (NL) – Dramaturgy, videos, post-production, lighting
Martijn Nieuwerf (NL) – Acting advice

Performers:
Martijn Nieuwerf (NL) – Actor (“The Composer”)
Tatiana Rosa (NL/POR) – Flute, samples
Olga Siemienczuk (DE/PL) – Voice
Jerzy Bielski (NL/PL) – Guitar, voice
Matt Ellis Devitt (UK) – Trumpet
Zach McCullough (USA/GR) – Drums
Ed Babar (UK) – Double bass, bass guitar
Abel Tuinstra (NL) – Piano, keys

 

“NONline Opera” is the Futurists production, which has been made possible due to the support of:
Gaudeamus, Fonds21, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, BNG Cultuurfonds

The piece premiered at Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht) on the 10th of September 2022.

 

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