Participatory Opera

Through the examination of participatory theories and practices, Participatory Opera offers a critical analysis of popular descriptions of spectator immersion and participation in contemporary opera, and explores resultant intersections with notions of individuality and community within these emerging contexts. As such, this book defines participatory opera, explores ways it challenges traditional roles of "audience," "performer," and "author," and situates Euro-American participatory opera within the broader context of participatory philosophy, theory, and art of the twentieth century. Part I examines key philosophies and theories surrounding audience participation throughout the twentieth century that later manifest in experimental opera works. Part II draws together the diverse practices and approaches described in the previous chapters towards a unifying theory of participatory opera through several focused case studies of twenty-first-century participatory operas. As a whole, this book reveals participatory opera as a contested site of meaning and intention, particularly agile and adaptive, and inherently value-laden, political, and antagonistic.Academic yet accessible, this book is primarily intended for scholars and graduate students, although professionals and practitioners may also find it appealing. Opera scholars will find this book addresses a critical element of contemporary opera. Likewise, scholars of participatory art will find it reveals that opera, too, engages with participatory practices and histories and should be incorporated into discourses surrounding participatory art. Scholars of experimental and avant-garde music and theater will find this text re-examines the relationship between opera and experimental art and theater.

Kathryn L. Caton teaches music history at the University of Houston, Moores School of Music. Her research interests include twentieth- and twenty-first-century opera, the long avant-garde, and experimental, collaborative, and participatory performance. She has presented research at local, national, and international conferences and serves as the co-chair of the Society for American Music’s Experimental Music Interest Group.