A one-act youth opera about Ada Lovelace and finding your own path
Currently in production with LA Opera Connects in graphic novel format during Covid quarantine.
DURATION: 25 mins in one act
SYNOPSIS:
High school student Maria struggles with feelings of anxiety and peer pressure while trying to decide how to fill out a future career survey for her class. She finds the courage to pursue her dreams when her father tells her about Ada Lovelace, a young woman in Victorian England, and how her vision for the future shaped mathematician Charles Babbage’s quest to build the first computer. Inspired by Ada’s independence, courage, and the depth of her vision for the machine’s future possibilities, Maria is empowered and excited about choosing her own path and making a difference in the world.
CAST:
Maria: A middle/high school student (this role may be played by a student)
Maria’s Father: Baritone
Ada Lovelace: Soprano
Charles Babbage: Baritone (this may be the same singer as Maria’s Father)
Chorus (Written for K-12 students with or without musical experience). Singing in Scenes 1 and 5 as Maria’s classmates OR the voices of her anxieties, and in scenes 2-4 as the crowd in attendance at Charles Babbage’s lecture)
ORCHESTRATION:
violin
cello
piano (or synthesizer)
Please email juhibansalcomposer@gmail.com to hear recorded media from the work