“A grand, rich, deeply serious new opera.” - Andrew Porter, Opera

Death and the Powers is a new opera by composer Tod Machover, developed

at the MIT Media Lab. Finalist for the 2012 Pultizer Prize in Music, the one-act,

full evening work tells the story of Simon Powers, a rich and powerful

businessman and inventor, who wishes to perpetuate his existence beyond

the decay of his physical being. Reaching the end of his life, Powers faces the

question of his legacy: “When I die, what will I leave behind? What can I

control? Can technology extend my limits?” Using his vast resources, Powers

'downloads' himself into his environment, turning every object in his

surroundings—books, furniture, walls, etc.—into a living version of himself,

called The System. His family, friends and business associates are left to

figure out how this transformation impacts their relationship with him and their

ability to move forward with their own lives and legacies.

Couched in music that is ravishing and radical, Death and the Powers

showcases visionary Media Lab performance technologies like Disembodied

Performance, which translates Simon Powers’ offstage presence into an

expressively animated stage, a musical Chandelier, and a chorus of robots.

Death and the Powers was warmly received by audiences and critics

alike at its world-premiere performances in Monaco (September 2010)

and at the United States premieres with the American Repertory Theater

in Boston and at Chicago Opera Theater (March & April 2011).

“A must-see for anybody who cares about the exciting new techno-

driven directions music theater is taking in the early 21st century.”

John Von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

“Passionate intensity. Full-bodied arias in a post-organic world.”

Heidi Waleson, Wall Street Journal

“Highly imaginative and quite compelling.”

Jeremy Eichler, Boston Globe

“Death and the Powers doesn't point the way to a new era of opera.

It's there. Now.”

David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer

Generous support for Death and the Powers has been provided by

Association Futurum under the Patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco.

A N E W O P E R A B Y T O D M A C H O V E R

COMPOSER

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Tod Machover

LIBRETTIST

Robert Pinsky

STORY

Randy Weiner

Robert Pinsky

DIRECTOR

Diane Paulus

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Alex McDowell

CHOREOGRAPHER

Karole Armitage

CONDUCTOR

Gil Rose

FEATURING

James Maddalena

Patricia Risley (Monaco)

Emily Albrink (Boston/Chicago)

Joélle Harvey (Monaco)

Sara Heaton (Boston/Chicago)

Hal Cazalet

BMOP Orchestra

VISIONARY TECHNOLOGY

MIT Media Lab

For further project and press information, visit

http://powers.media.mit.edu and

http://tinyurl.com/PowersBuzz. For production and

touring information contact powers@media.mit.edu.

Technology Innovations

For Death and the Powers, a team of faculty, staff,

and graduate and undergraduate students at the

MIT Media Lab has brought a host of innovative

technologies to the stage. From robots to visuals to

sound-producing Hyperinstruments like the giant

Chandelier, more than 40 computers are required

to run the production, all backed by extensive wired

and wireless networks. These computers run a

broad range of distributed control systems that we

developed for the production, in which each

component can share information with any other in

order to create a synchronized and unified

presence of Simon in The System.

The Chorus of Operabots and three large

bookshelf periaktoi are controlled centrally using

software we developed specifically for

choreographic robots onstage. This software

includes a 3D visualization for monitoring and

authoring the animation of robotic movement and

lighting. If need be, puppeteers above the stage

can assume manual control of any parameters of a

robot using a typical video game controller. An

absolute position tracking system monitors the

location of robots and actors onstage to help the

robots navigate, as well as affect sound and

visuals.

After Simon Powers enters The System, the singer

portraying him exits the stage, though he continues

to sing and act as if he were onstage. In a

technique we’ve coined Disembodied Performance,

A N E W O P E R A B Y T O D M A C H O V E R

gestural and physiological sensors, as well as

voice analysis, capture his offstage performance

which is then used to generate in real time the

visual representation of Simon Powers in the

bookshelf displays and other aspects of the

production. Mapping software was created that can

connect sound, robots, and visuals to the singer’s

performance. A custom graphics environment

allows these live performance parameters to

generate expressive graphic representations of

Simon in The System.

Another method of representing The System’s

omnipresence is through sound. Over 140

speakers are used to create a rather unique sonic

environment. Two formats of surround sound are

used in the production. Wave Field Synthesis uses

an array of tiny speakers across the front of the

stage to create the impression of a sound

emanating from any point in the space. Ambisonics

is used to move sound all around the audience.

Software and plug-ins for common audio packages

were engineered to allow the hundreds of streams

of audio to be processed in real time.

All of this technology–although complex–is mostly

meant to work invisibly behind the scenes, helping

to draw audiences into the unusual, mysterious

world of Simon and The System.

Peter Torpey, Elena Jessop and Ben Bloomberg

Opera of the Future, MIT Media Lab