FORMAT

Film, 6 mins

ARTIST

Judith Barnes, Irena Romendik, and Pablo Zinger

A song cycle of metamorphosis and return. A child searches for his voice in a drop of water. But the voice is captive far away, disguised as a cricket. A woman struts by the sea in blazing sunlight, her words swim around her like little fish, in bright swaths of lime green and lemon yellow. Chop down my shadow, begs the dry orange tree, the memory of oranges caught in its branches like stars in the nighttime sky of the
turning world.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in London and raised in Rome and New York City, Judith Barnes is a singer, stage director, and producer, called “consistently innovative” by TimeOut NY. She is the founder and artistic director of Vertical Player Repertory (VPR), an indie opera company in Brooklyn, New York that “has developed a following for intense performances of unusual works” (The New York Times), known for staging opera in unexpected urban venues, such as the deck of an oil tanker at the Red Hook Marine Terminal and a 19th century factory courtyard on the banks of the Gowanus Canal. As an opera singer, Judith has been praised as “vocally and dramatically present in every moment” (Parterre), serving an eclectic assortment of roles from the 17th to the 21st centuries, and has worked closely with many contemporary composers. A visual artist as well, she has exhibited her sculpture yearly with Gowanus Open Studios. LEIMAY Fellow 2016-2018.

 

Pablo Zinger is a conductor, pianist, composer, arranger, writer, lecturer and narrator, specializing in tango, Spanish zarzuela, and Latin American music. He has worked with singers for over 45 years, coaching the Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, German and English repertoire, and running an audio/video studio out of his home. He accompanied Plácido Domingo at Washington’s Constitution Hall, conducted for Paquito D’Rivera’s Carnegie Hall 50th Anniversary Concert and the Moscow première of Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires, narrated Piazzolla’s Pueblo Joven at Tokyo’s Opera City and accompanied legendary Spanish diva Sarita Montiel in NYC. He tours and records with the Valencia-based Zinger Septet. CDs include Tango Apasionado with Astor Piazzolla, Chamber Music from the South and The Clarinetist, with Paquito D’Rivera, Las Puertas de la Mañana (songs of Carlos Guastavino) and two albums of music by Carlos Suriñach with Bronx Arts Ensemble.

Irena Romendik arrived from Ukraine two decades ago and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She holds degrees from Shevchenko Art School in Kiev, Pratt Institute, and Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. Irena has participated in multiple shows, made costumes for dancers, and performed herself, but that has not been the focus of her artistic career. Irena values the process of artistic creation over production. Her multidimensional interests have produced projects that cross disciplines, and sometimes are difficult to categorize.

Dr. Chitra Raghavan obtained her doctorate in Clinical and Community Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and did her postdoctoral training at Yale University. She conducts research on coercive control in intimate partner abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking contexts. She is an active researcher, practicing psychologist and deemed an expert by the courts. Her work has created case law in New York. A vivid actress and singer, she has performed with Vertical Player Repertory for 20 years in chorus and featured roles

CREDITS

Francis Poulenc: Trois Chansons de Federico Garcia Lorca
1. L’enfant muet
2. Adelina à la promenade
3. Chanson de L’oranger sec
Judith Barnes, director & mezzo soprano
Pablo Zinger, piano
Irena Romendik, creative partner & video editor
Chitra Raghavan, creative partner