Entries by Aaron Siegel

Collaboration and Power

As part of Experiments in Opera’s recent production of The Nubian Word for Flowers at Roulette, I worked with director Mallory Catlett to start a new opera based on the writings of New Zealand Author Janet Frame.  This new work, ‘Rainbird’ represents something of a new direction for my work in theater.  Rather than writing […]

Letting Narrative Take The Lead

As part of this season’s Experiments in Opera program, I was commissioned to write a new short opera based on ‘The Wallet,’ a short story by the author Andrew McCuaig.  Jason Cady, Matthew Welch and I came up with this project in conversation with the artistic planning team at Symphony Space.  It was a great […]

The Sound of Cruelty

Engaging with our world of art-making takes all different shapes.  For me, responding to written words about art is my way of contributing to an ongoing dialogue between thinkers and their perspectives.  I penned a post recently for Experiments in Operas Gab Bag in response to a fantastic book called ‘The Art of Cruelty, ‘ […]

Finding Time In New Work

Part of what it means for me to be an artist is starting projects all the time.  Some of these new projects get finished (or funded) and others just fade away.  This ebb and flow is a good thing.  A kind of natural selection for personal expression.  The other side of this constant flow of […]

Outcomes on the Mind

In every facet of my life, at work, at home, in my studio, in schools, at institutional venues, I always get asked the same question: “What are you trying to do? And how do you know if you are doing it?”  This is an exacting question and one that I don’t often take that much […]

Don’t Trust That Video of Virtuosity

Two weeks ago, I opened my social media feed first thing in the morning and found that a friend had posted a video of Glenn Gould in honor of the pianist’s birthday.  Being a fan of Gould’s music, I clicked on the video and found myself once again mesmerized by the intensity of the music, […]

Research and Disruption

I have worked with large cultural institutions for long enough to know that there are some things that they are good at, and other things that they really struggle with.  Experimentation and the willingness to embrace failure are two areas where large cultural institutions have something to learn from their peers in technology fields. I am […]

Does it Matter How We Tell Our Stories?

Over at Experiments in Opera’s Gab Bag, I penned some thoughts about what kinds of narrative structures are being explored by today’s video and TV series.  It’s pretty clear to me that the work of artists in ‘television’ is the most inventive and probing work being done today.  I am fascinated by the way we […]

What Can The Internet Teach Us?

In the last decade of dialogue about technology in the arts classroom, there have emerged two primary approaches.  On one hand, say those interested in direct experience, software and hardware are the new materials of art making, and learners should be able to explore how to make new forms of art out of  ones and […]