My year amongst Indian peacocks, Egyptian obelisks, and Ovidian marbles has officially begun. It will be dotted with concerts and talks, beginning with the White Night event on November 17th, and leading up to the annual expo on June 9th. More updates to come.

David Daurier of Camera Lucida Productions, together with B Media, have created a stunning film version of the opera Like Flesh, which premiered online this past weekend. You can stream it on Medici.tv until July 2027 (paid subscription) or on Opera Vision for free until January 2023.

Just back from LA, where a new collaboration is being born with Peter Sellars and Ganavya Doraiswamy. It’s the very beginning still, and a new musical direction, so more about that in the Fall. But meanwhile, a very big thank you to the Villa Albertine - the new residency program of the French Cultural Services in the US - for making the trip possible.

This Fall I will begin a one-year residency at the Villa Medici in Rome. More about that there.

My residency at MacDowell got rescheduled twice due to COVID, which meant that instead of working here franticly on Like Flesh, I get to take long walks in the company of trees, read plays by Annie Baker at the library, and go swimming with new friends. A breath of new inspiration after the opera premiere.

While the Words and Music workshop that I led with writer/director Ted Huffman came to an end last July, the operatic scenes that were created as part of it are premiering today in a beautifully filmed version by Opéra de Montpellier. I invite you to watch the six new works by composers Alex Ho, Diana Syrse, Dan Chappell , Kirsten Milenko, Ole Hübner and Juta Pranulyté and their collaborators HERE.

After three intense years of work, Like Flesh was born last month at Lille Opera, then travelled to Montpellier Opera as part of its French tour. The press are calling it “an absolute success” (Forum Opera), “astounding” and “innovative” (Liberté Hebdo), “carefully perfected” (Opera Online), “of great refinement” (ResMusica), a “seductive and moving personal universe” (Anaclase), “exceptionally expressive” (Bachtrack), “an operatic revelation” (Premiere Loge), “a contemporary gem” (Les Inrockuptibles), “a kind of magic” (Croix du Nord) and a “bold and intense sonic immersion” (Midi Libre). See HERE for more reviews, videos and photos.

In this one-hour interview with Laurent Vilarem for France Musique’s “Carrefour de la creation” I discuss my recent works leading up to Like Flesh, and am joined by Cordelia Lynn and Augustin Muller. For more about Like Flesh, have a listen also to my interview with Alexander Jamar for Opera Forum’s podcast “Le Bel Aujourd’hui”.

Next month, Like Flesh will receive its world premiere at Opéra de Lille, and little by little I’m starting to introduce it to the world. In this interview for Opéra Magazine, I sat down with journalist Marguerite Haladjian to discuss my inspiration, work-process, and much more. I invite you to read it here.

I’m honoured to have been invited as an inaugural fellow of the Villa Albertine - a new Franco-American residency for creators and thinkers. You can learn more about my project here, and about the Villa here.

The Song About the Child, my choral piece with Palestinian poet Salman Masalha, is one of those unique works that enjoy yearly resurrection. Last month it was thanks to Coro Allegro, who performed it at Boston Symphony Hall as part of the Terezin Music Foundation’s annual gala. The Boston Musical Intelligencer called it “gorgeous” and “beautifully keening,” and the whole evening “meaningful and poignant”. Check out the full review HERE.

After Arethusa, my latest choral work, had its public world premiere at the Venice Biennale last month. Marcus Creed led the performance by accentus choir, with countertenor Guilhem Terrail as soloist. It was joyful to have Cordelia there with me: you can read her text HERE, and an interview with Accentus HERE. The next stops on accentus’ tour: November Music Festival in the Netherlands, Corneille Chapel in Rouen, and the Louvre Auditorium in Paris.

The group exhibition Sur Papier opened on May 8th at the Museum of Art and History in Neuchâtel, and the exhibition book Sur Papier. Su Carta (published by Scheidegger und Spiess AG, Verlag) was just released to accompany it. It contains a specially-commissioned article by musician and scholar Madison Greenstone, titled Space, Time, Surface, Perspective, in response to my installation Papier Sonore | Pigments Vivants. It is available for purchase HERE.

Ted Huffman and I were back at Montpellier Opera last month to oversee the production of six new operatic miniatures created by young artists in our workshop Words and Music. The concert was beautifully filmed, and will be broadcast next Spring. Other teachings this month included a guest lecture in Katie Mitchell’s Women Opera Makers Workshop at Festival d’Aix (where I also serve as mentor), a guest lecture at Thailand’s Mahidol University, and an upcoming guest lecture at UC Santa Cruz.

Six incredible weeks at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation just came to an end, giving birth to a new scene from Like Flesh, new friendships and collaborations, and a few very memorable encounters with Piero della Francesca.

I am thrilled to announce that Like flesh, my new opera with writer Cordelia Lynn, director Silvia Costa, and Le Balcon ensemble, commissioned by Opéra de Lille and IRCAM, is the winner of the 2021 Fedora Opera Prize. The official announcement is available here. A short press video about the opera is available here.

This evening, my composition Heave will open IRCAM’s 2021 ManiFeste Festival at the Pompidou Center. To mark the event, I sat down with Transfuge Magazine to discuss my past and present work at IRCAM, and much more. You can read the full portrait article here.

In October I was commissioned by the Museum of Art and History (MahN) to create an installation for their new exhibition Sur Paper. After a period of planning and tests in collaboration with IRCAM computer music designer Augustin Muller, I was thrilled to be in Neuchâtel last week for the building phase. The exhibition opens to the public on May 9th, and will run until September 5th. Full information here.

I’ve been at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis for a month now working on my opera Like Flesh. It’s been a real gift of time and space, as well as a nourishing community of fellow artists and scholars. A big thank you to Camargo’s partner institutions - the Royaumont Foundation and Lille opera - for making this possible.