RECORDING Angels of the House, a new opera

Hello! This project was born in Fall 2019 with a simple idea of creating something beautiful and moving with music. We met at Carnegie Mellon University School of Music where we instantly connected and decided to embark on a project that would launch us into another aspect of our careers.

'Angels of the House' began with a concept design of a short, maximum 30 minute micro-opera. It evolved into a just under 2 hour production, transforming from a once in-person event, to a fully remote, filmed production during COVID-19, gaining a revenue of over five-hundred dollars in ticket sales, the entirety being donated to the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. The project was awarded the highest grant from Carnegie Mellon University Frank Ratchye Fund For Art @ the Frontier, endorsed by the Carnegie Mellon School of Music and Museum of Fine Arts, as well as presented to the Carnegie Mellon Board of Directors as a project of the year.

This female-centric opera pushes the envelope by exploring human rights and the policies of the past while connecting their effect on the present day. The themes we encounter include mental/physical partner abuse, women's rights, reproductive rights, and miscarriage. Based on historical realities brought to life in an art form to further express the injustices of the past and provide space for open conversation.

Based in London in the 1800s, this historical fiction piece follows the unlikely friendship between two women; Caroline Norton, a high acclaimed women's rights activist and Arabella Decker, a working class soon to be mother, and wife to Kyran Decker. We study the Custody of Infants Act brought to the House of Lords by Caroline herself, and originally rejected based solely because she was a woman. We also glimpse into the life of Arabella and Kyran and how it connects to said Custody of Infants Act.

We are looking to raise money in order to pay for a recording studio, our singers and other necessary materials (ex. promotional) to make this project as successful as possible. We thank everyone for any contribution. We will also be giving out signed posters from the show to the first 15 contributions!

This project is very important to us and we thank you so much for any help you can give toward helping us achieve our goals. If you would like to explore more about this project here is a link to our website!!

Sincerely,

Sophie & Shambhavi