The Sailmaker’s Wife

Kristin Norderval is a composer and singer who specialises in creating new vocal works, interdisciplinary pieces and works that incorporate interactive technology. Her opera „The Trials of Patricia Isasa“ premiered in 2016 at the Monument-National theatre in Montreal and won the Quebec Opus Award in two categories: best production in Montreal and best contemporary music. Norderval’s compositions have been released on BIS, Deep Listening, Everglade, Koch International, MSR Classics, Nendo Dango and Losen Records. Alex Ross of The New Yorker included her solo CD „Aural Histories“ in his list of „Ten Notable Classical Recordings of 2012“. In 2019, Kristin Norderval received a Discovery Grant as part of Opera America’s „Opera Grants for Female Composers“ programme. In 2023, Ms Norderval completed her PhD in artistic research at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Academy of Opera, where she designed the interactive system that will be used in the production of „The Sailmaker’s Wife“.

Julian Crouch is best known as a set designer and director. His best-known projects in the US include *Shockheaded Peter* (Broadway) and *Satyagraha* (Metropolitan Opera). Other operas for the Met include „Doctor Atomic“, „The Enchanted Island“ and „The Merry Widow“. His Broadway productions include „Hedwig And The Angry Inch“, „Head Over Heels“, „The Addams Family“ and „Big Fish“. Drawing on his experience from numerous self-conceived shows for his British theatre company Improbable Theatre, he turned his hand to libretto writing in 2017 and was accepted as a fellow into the American Lyric Theatre’s composer-librettist programme. He has developed three full-length operas with the American Lyric Theatre and one with Opera America. His experiences following the COVID-19 pandemic led him to film and animation. The animation of Du Yun’s „A Cockroach’s Tarantella“ was one of the results, praised by the NY Times for its „masterful cohesion, sensitivity and joie de vivre“.

Studio Dan was founded in 2005 as a large ensemble of the JazzWerkstatt Wien. Gradually, the group evolved into a flexible instrumental ensemble and a cross-genre collective.

Studio Dan has a vision that extends far beyond the performance of music: driven by the conviction that artistic work acts as a counterweight to reactionary, nationalistic and capitalist mechanisms, the group takes a stand. It develops educational formats, performs in public spaces, stages ambitious productions for young audiences and builds networks extending far beyond the art scene. The group takes a particular interest in artistic positions that are deliberately taken in opposition to current trends in art and music. Studio Dan has always operated with a diverse composition, both in terms of the artistic backgrounds of its members and in terms of age and gender.

For over 15 years, the collective has been commissioning artists from the most diverse aesthetic fields. Its partners include representatives of the younger generation such as Sonja Mutić, Oxana Omelchuk, Sam Gryllus, Juan Pablo Trad Hasbun, Christof Ressi, Thomas Wally (composition), Karolina Preuschl (text), Eva-Maria Schaller (dance), Melanie Hollaus and Lukas Schöffel (film), as well as renowned names from a wide variety of fields such as Anthony Coleman, Mark Fell, Vinko Globokar, Ingrid Laubrock, George Lewis, Wolfgang Mitterer, Julia Purgina, Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson, Elliott Sharp and Manos Tsangaris. In 2024, the ensemble appointed Xizi Wang as its first ensemble conductor.

Studio Dan performs internationally at renowned venues such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Roulette in New York, the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, and Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, as well as at festivals including the Vienna Festival, Vienna Modern, the musikprotokoll at steirischer herbst and La Strada Graz.
Since 2024, the ensemble has featured in the Vienna MuTh’s subscription programme with four concerts a year. The group was the house band at Vienna’s Porgy & Bess and continues to perform there regularly. Beyond the classical concert stage, the ensemble has been involved in numerous projects in public spaces and musical theatre productions for young audiences, including collaborations with Dschungel Wien and TaO! in Graz.

The debut CD Creatures & other things was awarded the „German Record Critics“ Prize’ (Top 10 list); Planet Globokar was nominated for the YAM Award in 2017; Studio Dan’s first recording of George Lewis’s‘ As We May Feel was named one of the „25 Best Classical Music Tracks“ by The New York Times in 2020. The CD, released in 2024 Braxton et al. has been nominated for the „German Record Critics“ Award’ in the ‘Grenzgänge’ category. CDs and other works by the collective are sold under the label name ‘records & other stuff’.

Kaoko Amano was born in Tokyo and initially studied singing and music education at Tokyo Gakugei University in her home country. She then undertook postgraduate studies at the Vienna Conservatory, graduating with distinction under the tutelage of Julij Chomenko.

Among other things, she attended masterclasses with KS Heinz Zednik, Kurt Widmer and at the Ernst Krenek Institute. At the 8th Emmy Destinn Competition, she won second prize and a special prize, and also reached the final of various other competitions.

During her various opera engagements, she took on a range of roles: Cathrine (Bizet’s *The Lady of Perth*) and Esmeralda (Smetana’s *The Bartered Bride* conducted by D. Bostock at Hallwyl Castle Opera), Telli (Hadschibäjov’s *Velvet and Silk*, M. Schnack/Vienna Chamber Opera).

She is deeply committed to contemporary music and has taken part in numerous world premieres of works by internationally renowned composers, such as at the festival Vienna Modern, the Salzburg Festivale, the Vienna Festival, the Music Theatre Festival Vienna, of the Festival Imago Dei, the Carinthian Summer or the Soundscapes of Schwaz. Performances at venues including Vienna Musikverein, Viennese Concert Hall, ORF Radiokulturhaus and in the Schönberg Centre. Collaboration with the IGNM, the ÖGZM, Ensemble Phace, Ensemble Kontrapunkte, „ensemble xxi. jahrhundert“, Ensemble Reconsil and the Schallfeld Ensemble.

As part of the „World New Music Days In 2013, Amano performed leading roles in the operas *Wärme* (T. Friebel/P. Pawlik) and “Bill„ (T. Jelinek/J. Sanchez-Chiong), followed by ”Feminin/Masculin„ (E. M. Binder/P. Liakakis, 2014 in Graz Theatre). As part of the „Operas of the Future 2018„ programme, she sang leading roles to great acclaim in “Konjiki Yasha„ (T. Yokokawa/C. Zauner) and “Mirada Antigua” (J. Quislant/C. Zauner) at the Graz Opera House as well as in *Opera of Time* (T. Jelinek/J. Sanchez-Chiong at the Music Theatre Festival Vienna 2019). In addition, in 2019 she was in the The Burgtheater in Vienna in „Dies Irae – The Day of Wrath“ (K. Voges/P. Walfisch). From 2023 to 2025, she was a guest performer at the Vienna People's Theatre in „You Have to Make Up Your Mind!“ (K. Voges/J. Hartle). She is currently appearing as a guest performer at the Cologne Theatre committed.

She has also performed at major international festivals of contemporary music, including the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin, the PAN Music Festival in Seoul, Musica Electronica Nova in Wrocław, Tonlagen in Dresden and the Novi Festival in Zagreb.

She is a member of Platypus Ensemble and Black Page Orchestra.