AEOLUS

AEOLUS (2017) is an opera combining throat singing, multiphonics indie-rock and electronics. It is written and performed by Ken Ueno (Rome and Berlin Prizes winner) in collaboration with FLUX Quartet and Majel Connery, with videos by artist Erin Johnson. AEOLUS is inspired by the mythological keeper of the winds, Aeolus, from the Odyssey. In the classic tale, wind shapes human destiny. In the opera, wind, reinterpreted as breath, is a compositional tool. AEOLUS charts Ueno’s personal odyssey, linking impressionistic scenes from memories, found objects and literary fragments from the composer’s past.

The piece was performed at National Sawdust (Brooklyn, NY) and at Wellesley College in 2017.