Synopsis
Newly created, a sex robot, tries to find out what it means to be a woman while trapped in a world created by her programmer, Pete, and his "Siri" device, Cora. Inspired in part by the composer's own experiences in an abusive relationship during her formative years, and the works of Sci-Fi pioneers Isaac Asimov and Ursula Le Guin, this opera explores the idea of "womanhood" through the lens of someone new to the world, and desperate to find where she fits. Using electronics as an extension of the orchestration, the composer is able to pair certain sounds with certain characters and events, like a leitmotif, as well as make the production into an immersive soundscape.
“Self Defined Circuits” explores two main questions: what does self-identity and femininity mean to artificial intelligence; and how can someone grow trapped in someone else’s world. The question of self-identity in artificial intelligence is best exemplified in the opera through the two AI characters, Cora and Fembot. Cora is represented by two voices for one role to show that while she thinks she is simply a program, perhaps she has two sets of consciousness, like humans (arousal and awareness). Fembot, who is brand new, is actively trying to find who she is.
The question of growing in someone else’s world is critical for women in composition. Defining one’s own path when someone else has long defined a “standard” one, is very hard and is at the core of the problem for women and people of color in music today. For the composer, this question loomed prevalently over her life as a young adult. She says, “I was in an abusive relationship when I was forming ideas about gender, sexuality, and self-identity. The most invasive and damaging thing he ever did was to define these for me. For a very long time, I lived trapped within his definitions of who I was and what I meant to the world. I wanted this opera to reflect this abuse: that defining a person is just as damaging as any other type of harm.”
This opera comes at a time when self reflection and identity are crucial. Especially in the Millennial generation, self-identity has often been defined through digital media interactions. The opera and its production will resound with these audiences, while offering a challenging look at the genre of opera and traditional performance styles, by integrating extended techniques, and live and fixed media electronics.