PARK OPERA:
chorus of bluebirds

“The protagonist of the opera is listening itself.”

BY Wojtek Blecharz

APR 27TH, 10:00 - 11:30 AM & 1:00 - 2:30 PM
→ ART PRODUCE: 3139 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104

In anticipation of our groundbreaking production of PARK OPERA, Project [BLANK] invites children and their families to take part in a free, hands-on workshop designed to spark creativity and deepen appreciation for San Diego’s natural environment!

Led by ornithologist Shannon Mendia, textile artist Bogdana Voitenko, and vocalist/composer Jasper Sussman, this interactive session will inspire young minds to:

LEARN about San Diego’s native bird species.
DESIGN a brand-new bird species with unique features.
CREATE & RECORD an original bird song or call!

ABOVE: Coastal Cactus Wren

Each child’s bird call will become part of a special sound installation featured in PARK OPERA on May 10th, played throughout Balboa Park’s Botanical Garden as part of a magical “Chorus of Bluebirds.” Participants will have the chance to explore the garden during the performance, searching for the sound of their own voice hidden among the trees!

REGISTER HERE

We can't wait to meet you and your little ones!

A parent or guardian is required to attend the workshop alongside the child.
If you have more than one child participating, please fill out a separate registration form (right) and release form (below) for each child.
We will be photographing throughout each workshop. Please download, print, sign, and return the photography release form by emailing it to us at info@projectblanksd.org.

Questions? Feel free to reach out at any time!

release form

ABOVE: California Gnatcatcher

Parent or Guardian Name

First Name

Last Name

Parent or Guardian Email

Parent or Guardian Phone

(###)

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Child Name

First Name

Last Name

Child age

Which workshop would you like to attend?

Teaching ARTISTS

BOGDANA VOITENKO / textile artist

Bogdana Voitenko is a museum educator and a textile artist who was born in Ukraine, and currently resides in San Diego, California, USA. At the beginning of her career, Bogdana designed educational and socially engaged art projects in museums in Kyiv, Ukraine (Pinchuk Art Center, Taras Shevchenko National Museum, Kyiv, National Center of Folk Culture “Ivan Honchar Museum”). The COVID-19 pandemic allowed Bogdana to focus on nature, regarding it as the most vital and therapeutic force, from which then on defined her art practice. Since 2019, she has worked with the ecoprinting technique, a technique which allows the transfers of pigments directly from leaf to fabric, resulting in clear, realistic images. As the finished works pull directly from the local plants, each work becomes a unique representation of the location. Following the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Bogdana has lived in Spain, and both the east and west coasts of the USA. Familiarizing herself with local flora has become her way to get to know the wider landscape, both natural and cultural, and is reflected in her works. Throughout the years, Bogdana's works have been exhibited in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, VA, San Diego, CA, Kyiv, Ukraine, Coppenhagen, Denmark, and Tbilisi, Georgia. She was a part of the CANtemporaries collective, and worked as a teaching artist at The Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. In San Diego, Bogdana is currently working to build Mimicry Clothing, her line of sustainable wearable art pieces. Her main focus however lies within museum education and community development, a passion she pursues through her work as a Docent at The Mingei International Museum, and a Visitor Ambassador at the WNDR Museum.

JASPER SUSSMAN / VOCALIST

Jasper Sussman is a vocalist, composer, and ethnomusicologist with a passion for fostering socially meaningful music-making. Her forthcoming dissertation explores voice as ecology and the choir as a socially driven ecosystem, reflecting her innovative approach to music and community. Since moving to San Diego, Jasper has embraced a range of impactful roles, including Community Engagement Manager of La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, Education Programs Coordinator of Sacra/Profana, Lead Community Organizer for The Choral Commons, and Director of Choirs at Cuyamaca College. Additionally, she has served as Voice Coach and Health Consultant for the San Diego Children’s Choir, Rehearsal Director of Voices of Our City Choir, and Guest Instructor for the University of San Diego’s Choral Scholars program. Her performances span collaborations with San Diego New Music, Project [BLANK], San Diego New Verbal Workshop, and more. Currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of California - San Diego, Jasper holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Lawrence University. Her compositions are featured in the Justice Choir Songbook and published by See-A-Dot Music Publishing, Inc. To explore her work and award-winning compositions, visit www.jaspersussman.com.

SHANNON MENDIA / ORNITHOLOGIST

Shannon Mendia is an Ornithologist and Wildlife Ecologist specializing in the conservation of threatened, endangered, and culturally significant species. Currently working for U.S Geological Survey's (USGS) Western Ecological Research Center, she conducts demographic monitoring of threatened and endangered birds in San Diego County and Southern California. She has degrees in Wildlife Management and Conservation and Natural Resources from Cal Poly Humboldt and a strong background in field research and ecological analysis. Her expertise spans ecosystem services, habitat ecology, avian research, mesocarnivore tracking, and conservation projects across diverse ecosystems. In addition to her research work, Shannon is passionate about environmental education and outreach. As the Educational Banding Coordinator at Wright Wildlife Refuge and Banding Coordinator with USGS, she has hosted interactive bird banding demonstrations for school-aged and university students, trained volunteers and interns in avian monitoring techniques, and managed multiple Monitoring Avian Production and Survival (MAPS) stations. She currently helps lead a local MAPS banding station and annual field trips for the San Diego Bird Festival, and is always open to lead or assist with environmental outreach opportunities.

"In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught". -Baba Dioum

Are you INTERESTED SUPPORTING PARK OPERA?

PARK OPERA is a FREE event, but it takes an army of people to make it happen. If you are able, would you consider donating the price of a ticket? If you would like to make a significantly larger donation or become a production sponsor, please reach out to Executive Director, Brendan Nguyen at brendan@projectblanksd.org.

donate

WOJTEK BLECHARZ, COMPOSER

Born in Gdynia (Poland) in 1981, in 2006 he graduated with honors from Frederic Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw (Master of Arts), in 2015 received a Ph. D. in music composition at University of California San Diego, living in Berlin since 2015. Between 2012-2019 Blecharz had been curating the Instalakcje music festival at Warsaw’s Nowy Theater, featuring non-concert music: sound installations, performance installations, sound sculptures, music videos, music theater and others. Blecharz has directed his three of his opera-installations: Transcryptum (2013) commissioned by Grand Theater National Opera in Warsaw; Park-Opera (2016) commissioned by Theater Powszechny in Warsaw and Body-Opera commissioned by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (2016). In 2018 composed opera FIASKO, commissioned by Staatstheater Darmstadt; in 2019 Rechnitz.Opera for 6 actors and 4 cellos, based on Elfriede Jelinek’s text, commissioned by Warsaw Autumn Festival and TR Warszawa. Currently working on his 3rd Symphony for 200 wireless speakers commissioned by Donaueschingen Musiktage and Concerto for Piano and Wireless Speakers that will be premiered at the Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt.

Blecharz’s music often redefines the traditional concert format and proposes different relations between the listener/viewer and the sound. His music involves site specific projects, participatory audience, elements of music and instrumental theater as well as immersion and embodiment of sound. His performative-music installations and music theater pieces include: Soundwork for 8 actors (commissioned by TR Warszawa, 2016); House of Sound for 40 instruments and participatory audience (commissioned by Słowacki Theater, Cracow, 2017); Manifesto for orchestra (for any type of instruments and participatory audience, commissioned by Eklekto, Geneva, 2019); Black Square. Sonata for Keyboard and Tape – a durational-drone installation for 4 performers (commissioned by Teraz Poliż, Warsaw, 2018/20); a cycle of 8 Fields for various instrumental (spatial) set-ups; Symphony No.1 for orchestra in 4 groups and moving audience (commissioned by Szczecin Philharmonics, 2019), Symphony No.2 for orchestra open to any type of musician (commissioned by Theater &TD, Zagreb, 2019), Symphony No.3 for 200 wireless speakers (commissioned by Donaueschinger MusikTage 2021/23). In 2020 Blecharz was invited by Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN in Warsaw to create a performative installation for the Museum’s community choir (Mantra for Muranów), also in 2020 a retrospective with Blecharz’s works took place during New Empathies Festival at Radial System, Berlin. In 2022 Blecharz was working on two large-scale, collaborative music installations: Queer Magick Intervention (created together with Vala T. Foltyn) for the Former nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg (commissioned by Musik Installationen, Nuremberg) and Treehumana for voices and Paetzold recorders, co-created with Matthias Schoenijahn and Paulina Miu Kühling).

Blecharz composed pieces for Kwadrofonik Ensemble (Warsaw), Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra (Beijing), Klangforum Wien (Vienna), Royal String Quartet (Warsaw), Aviva Endean (Melbourne), Jenn Torrence (Oslo), Ryan Muncy (New York), Rupert Enticknap (Berlin), International Contemporary Ensemble (New York), Musiques Nouvelles (Brussels), Collegium Novum Zurich, KNM Ensemble (Berlin), Asian Art Ensemble (Berlin), Staatstheater Darmstadt, TR Warszawa, Warsaw Autumn Festival, Szczecin Philharmonics, Roskilde Festival, Eklekto (Geneva), &TD Theater (Zagreb), JEMP Festival/Arts Territory (London), Radialsystem (Berlin), Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN (Warsaw), ensemble mosaik (Berlin), Hashtag Ensemble (Warsaw), Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble (Cracow), Jewish Culture Festival (Cracow), Disappearing Berlin-Schinkel Pavillon, The National Orchestra of Polish Radio (Katowice) and others.

Recently his works were performed at Warsaw Autumn Festival, Maerz Musik, Salzburg Biennale, Museum of Modern Art in Tel Aviv, Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music (Australia), MATA Festival (New York), Mostly Mozart Festival (New York), Klangwerkstadt (Berlin), Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (England), Rainy Days (Luxembourg), Time of Music (Viitasaari, Finland), ImpulsTanz (Vienna), Sacrum Profanum (Cracow), Festival of the Premiers (Katowice, Poland) and others. Blecharz collaborates with various curatorial teams such as Arts Territory (London), Tokarnia (Szczecin), Pracownia Kuratorska (Cracow), Curatorial Collective for Public Arts (Berlin) and others.

Since 2012 Blecharz is collaborating with sculptor Ewa-Maria Śmigielska, who created stage sets for his opera-installations: Transcryptum and Body-Opera, while Blecharz created music for Śmigielska’s large scale installations such as: “Wobec” (2018, Nowy Theater), “Follow the Dragon” (2021, Polish Sculpture Center, Orońsko) and “Phoenix Mantra” (2022, Inne Towarzystwo Gallery, Warsaw).

Blecharz composed music to various dance and theater performances and worked with the following choreographers and directors: Jacek Łumiński, Marta Górnicka, Katarzyna Kalwat, Karol Tymiński, Wojciech Grudziński, Magda Szpecht, Marta Ziółek, Natalia Korczakowska, Matthias Schoenijahn, Thea Reifler, Phila Bergmann, Gosia Wdowik, Luk Perceval, Transformella Cinis, Przemek Kamiński, Angelo Petracca and others.

photo credit: Marta Gillner 2024

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