An AI revolution is coming — in opera too?

Scenic designer Jefferson Ridenour used AI to help sketch his and director Kristen Barrett’s initial concept for his 2023 Rigoletto production design at Opera Delaware before rendering the finished designs himself.

Article Published: 03 Apr 2024

An AI revolution is coming — in opera too?

By Fred Cohn

Yuval Sharon has been thinking a lot lately about artificial intelligence and its effect on opera. “Most of the opera world thinks that AI is going to help us with ticket sales and marketing copy,” notes the artistic director of Detroit Opera, known well for his unconventional stagings of inherited repertoire. “But what about the art?” he continues. “Opera is always responsive to technological innovations — how can we pretend that AI isn’t going to encroach on the art we create?”

This article was published in the Spring 2024 issue of Opera America Magazine.