Produced by Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Cleveland Opera Theater, and On Site Opera, Operas [In Place] was selected as a winner in the category of Artistic Creation in the 2023 Awards for Digital Excellence.

Watch the video and learn more about the work and its producers below. Video available to stream free for a limited time through June 4, 2024.

Operas [in Place] — a virtual festival of micro operas for our time — was produced by Baldwin Wallace Conservatory in collaboration with Cleveland Opera Theater and On Site Opera.

These nine new micro operas were commissioned specifically for Baldwin Wallace voice performance students and composed with special attention to the rehearsal and performance parameters of university-mandated COVID-19 protocols and social distancing. This project was rehearsed and performed in a manner that was safe for our students and audience and responsive to our global situation. Operas [in Place] was produced by an award-winning design and production team and created by renowned composers and librettists including internationally recognized artists whose work is performed by the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and other top opera companies around the world.

ABOUT THE PRODUCERS

The Operas [in Place] creative team is led by Scott Skiba (producer-director, project design videography, video editing), an award-winning stage director who has led more than 80 new productions with companies including Indianapolis Opera, Mobile Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Pensacola Opera, Opera Tampa, and Toledo Opera. Skiba serves as director of opera studies at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, executive artistic director of Cleveland Opera Theater, production director at Opera Western Reserve, and assistant artistic director at Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Skiba is a pioneer in producing interdisciplinary collaborations in alternative and site-specific venues and a proponent of new opera.

Brittany Merenda (digital design, video FX, video editing) is the owner of Dark Lumen Productions. She is a projection designer, production designer, and creative director working in theater, opera, and dance throughout the country. In 2021, Merenda made her debut at Washington National Opera’s “Come Home” gala at the Kennedy Center as the associate projection designer. At the onset of the pandemic, she pivoted to fully virtual productions, including a real-time, six-live-camera-feed interactive play titled Deja Zoom! with Parallel 45 Theatre. She also served as the creative director for a state-of-the-art virtual national convention (summer 2020) and virtual/live gala for New England Conservatory.

Steve Shack (lighting design) is a fairly nomadic human who often finds himself designing light for various performances. His most recent work has been seen in Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Hilo, Boston, Traverse City, Cleveland, and New York City. Over the past 20 years, Shack has lit over 250 various productions of musical theater, opera, dance, and drama in addition to a few restaurants, museums, and art installations. He is the resident lighting designer at Dark Lumen Productions, Cleveland Opera Theater, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and Magnificat High School.

The Awards for Digital Excellence in Opera are supported by The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.