Artist Portrait No. 4: Malena Dayen (singer, opera director)

Malena Dayen is a versatile vocalist and exciting opera director who works a lot with new media. Recently, Malena directed the first opera in virtual reality (The Presence of Odradek with Bare Opera.) She is also a versatile vocalist who sings both “standard” operatic repertoire and, most prominently with her duo New Airs Tango, Spanish music and tango. She is also part of the vocal improvisation ensemble Moving Star based at Carnegie Hall and a collaborative artist at the Weill Music Institute, among other performance engagements.

Malena and I talk about virtual reality, how technology changes singing, the magical elements of opera, and the so-far still irreplicable qualities of live performance, among other things.

Links:

Malena’s website: https://www.malenadayen.com/

The Presence of Odradek at Bare Opera: http://www.bareopera.org/the-presence-of-odradek

Moving Star ensemble: http://www.movingstarvoices.com/

Malena’s upcoming projects🔮:

With Teatro Grattacielo (grattacielo.org): Idomeneo July 2021 (Crete, Greece), L’Amico Fritz November 2021, El Amor Brujo November 2021 (New York City)

With Fairfield County Chorale (https://fairfieldcountychorale.org/): Vivaldi’s Gloria, April 2021

The Late Walk, at the Library of Congress. More info here: http://www.bareopera.org/decameron

Stay fully up-to-date on Malena’s website!

Music on this episode:

Malena Dayen sings Blizzard Voices by Paul Moravec

New Airs Tango, Nostalgia

Moving Star improvisation

New Airs Tango, Cielito lindo

💋👁👂🏼 For more about this podcast: https://onthevergetrilogy.com/

Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/artistsontheverge/message