Making opera more accessible and relevant
‘Open to Opera’ featuring students from the University of Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) , accompanied by Menaka De Fonseka Sahabandu will be presented by Kiara Wickremasinghe and Wasantha Geekiyanage on Thursday, June 26 at 7 p.m. at the Russian Cultural Centre in Colombo. The programme is curated via intensive workshops conducted by Kiara and Wasantha as part of a Wellcome Trust funded project ‘Open to Opera: A Study on Opera and Wellbeing’.
“This concert is a good introduction to anyone who is curious about opera and wants to support young people from diverse backgrounds in entering the Colombo classical music scene,” Kiara says.
Using her different skills:Kiara Wickremasinghe. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Kiara, who happily straddles multiple identities of anthropologist, mental health practitioner and musician, first conceptualized the project soon after her Sri Lankan debut with her teacher Menaka in July 2024.
“That recital was very meaningful for me,” she says, describing how she chose to title the concert ‘Ain’t it a pretty night’ after the aria in the opera ‘Susannah’ by Carlisle Floyd, a composer from the United States. Kiara endured “a very painful experience” earlier on and found relief in connecting with Susannah’s story. “It helped me a lot with coming to terms… (and) processing so many difficult emotions. And then I realized that there is a lot of potential for opera to be a force of promoting wellbeing, even though from the outset (it) seems like such an inaccessible art form.”
At the time, Kiara was working with the NHS in the UK, as part of her research for a PhD in medical anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. The study was a randomized controlled trial of ‘Open Dialogue,’ a social networks approach to psychiatric crisis care.
A springboard to self-reflection: Kiara with the students
“We’re relational beings and there are so many people factors besides our individual pathology,” Kiara explains the thinking behind the Open Dialogue approach which originated in Finland as a treatment for psychosis. “We can’t look at mental health in the same way as physical health.”
As part of the immersive research process, Kiara trained in delivering various therapies to her patients. Previously, during her Masters studies in Music Development, she studied music therapy and received training on how to run therapeutic workshops using music.
After the recital, Kiara started thinking through her anthropologist-therapist-musician perspectives about how to use the different kinds of training she had received to improve access and appreciation for opera. It was also at the recital that she met Wasantha who is now her key collaborator on the project.
The work is three-pronged: opera education and appreciation, improving access to and inclusion in opera performance, and providing mental health interventions through opera.
To improve accessibility and inclusion, Kiara and Wasantha are working with 15 undergraduate vocal studies students from the Department of Western Music at the UVPA.
“None of these students have performed in a Colombo venue,” she explains, adding that most have never performed a classical musical piece onstage or been accompanied by a live instrument, even at exams.
Over the course of more than ten full-day workshops, the students and trainers work on each of the three aspects of the study. They learn the history of opera and contemporary practice, study famous operatic works, consider the personal relevance of themes and issues presented in these pieces and then use therapeutic techniques to work through any emotions that surface in relation to those themes. Family conflict, loneliness, relationships, death and bullying are among the topics the group has worked through.
“What we’re doing is using opera as a springboard for self reflection and talking about our own life experiences, in a safe way, in a culture where talking about… difficult emotions and mental health is still stigmatized,” Kiara says. The therapeutic work has at times been “really powerful,” she adds.
Kiara, who holds an LTCL in Singing Performance, also provides the students with training in vocal technique as they rehearse for the final performance.
The duo behind the project: Wasantha and Kiara. Pic by Warren White
Operatic technique in itself is “quite liberating,” Kiara says. “You don’t have to match other people’s voices like you do in a choir. You just sing with your own voice, and it feels very healthy since you’re not manufacturing the sound. And because you’re acting it out as well, you really have to make yourself vulnerable, which is challenging. But it’s a good thing to push yourself into those territories… You notice resonances within your own life and you have to consider how you are going to cope… That’s what we have been teaching the students as well.”
The final performance programme will include well-known arias, duets and choruses as well as original compositions by the students. Each of the performers will also present some context and personal reflections on their chosen pieces in a language they are comfortable with, further improving accessibility within the concert.
“What I like about giving (the students) a creative exercise is that you get different skills coming out,” Kiara enthuses. Some write the script, others compose or add instrumentation, still others add direction or design costumes. “And from what I’ve seen, it’s really increased students’ aspirations,” she continues. “They are already thinking about whether they can turn these into a full production and present it next year!”
‘Open to Opera’ takes place on Thursday, June 26 starting at 7 p.m. at the Russian Cultural Centre in Colombo 7. Tickets are priced at Rs.1000. WhatsApp 0762939234 for more information.
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