IHOS Music Theatre and Opera

Infobox Company
name = IHOS Music Theatre and Opera

type = Not for Profit
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foundation = 1990
founder = Constantine Koukias with Werner Ihlenfeld
location_city = Hobart
location_country = Australia
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industry = Music / Arts / Entertainment
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homepage = http://www.ihosopera.com
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IHOS Music Theatre and Opera is a Tasmanian opera company was established in Hobart in 1990, by composer and artistic director Constantine Koukias, and production director Werner Ihlenfeld. The company has agrowing international reputation for creating original music-theatre and opera. Works are commonly multicultural, multilingual (often utilising macaronic libretti and exploit multiple art-forms, blending voice, dance and sound with installation art and digital technology.

IHOS elaborates cross-cultural themes in modern Australia, and productions have been characterised by the use of unconventional industrial venues, and dramatic language - ancient and modern forms of Greek, Hebrew, Mandarin and German, and alternative forms like braille, semaphore signalling and morse code.

IHOS has created five large-scale operas. Days and Nights with Christ, To Traverse Water and MIKROVION, were first staged in Hobart, and have since been showcased at Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart arts festivals. The Divine Kiss was commissioned by Access Arts for the 1998 Brisbane Festival, and later staged at the Theatre Royal, Hobart in 1999. Most recently Tesla - Lightning in His Hand, opened the 2003 Ten Days on the Island festival.

IHOS is also committed to large-scale community projects. In 1996 IHOS created PULP - An Industrial Opera, commissioned by the Australian Paper Mill to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Burnie pulp mill. The project is cited by the Australia Council (1997) as a national example of excellence in community arts. In 2001 Sea Chant - an historical community opera staged on a merino sheep stud on Tasmania's east coast - was a major attraction of the inaugural Ten Days on the Island festival.

Smaller music theatre pieces composed by Constantine Koukias and produced by IHOS include Rapture: a Sonic Taxi Installation (Hobart 1999), the chamber opera Spirits of the Hoist (Hobart and Launceston 2000), and Schwa, The Neutral Vowel (Hobart 2002).

IHOS Music Theatre and Opera have made a significant contribution to Australian cultural life through their support of the creation of new work both for the theatre and the concert platforms as well as their care in developing programs for young and emerging artists.

Major Repertoire

*Olegas - "by Constantine Koukias, Libretto by Natasha Cica"
*TESLA - Lightning in his Hand. "An opera in two parts, sung in English By Constantine Koukias."
*The Divine Kiss (Das Böse ist Immer und Überall) - "An opera sung in Modern and Ecclesiastical Greek, Hebrew, German and English by Constantine Koukias. Dedicated to the memory of Józef Wawrzynczak"
*To Traverse Water - "An Opera in Two Parts Sung in Ecclesiastical & Modern Greek by Constantine Koukias"
*Days and Nights with Christ - "An opera by Constantine Koukias"

IHOS Music Theatre Laboratory

In late 1999 IHOS formed the "IHOS Music Theatre Laboratory", a sub-section of the main company that provides training for young opera / music-theatre performers, as well as commissioning and collaborative opportunities for Australian composers, directors and designers.

Works Premiered

*2007 As if Electronically Controlled (Full Premiere) Christopher Williams
*2007 Colonial Pictures Simon Reade
*2006 As if Electronically Controlled (Workshop only) Christopher Williams
*2005 The Death of Chatterton Matthew Dewey
*2005 Da Ponte in Absentia Constantine Koukias
*2004 Blood Lights Ian Cresswell
*2004 A Priest's Passion Matthew Dewey
*2004 Succubus Michael Lampard
*2004 For No Apparent Reason Myles Griffith
*2003 The Fall of the House of Usher Maria Grenfell
*2003 Creatures of the Wind Kate Moore
*2003 Scenes from a Calabrese Opera Angelina Zucco
*2002 Eden's Bequest (second stage) Rosemary Austen
*2002 Harmony Allan Badalassi
*2002 Touch Wood Claudio Pompili
*2002 Antigone Sketches Constantine Koukias
*2002 POP Sally Rees, Matt Warren
*2002 A Lizard Between Her Breasts Raffaele Marcellino
*2001 Happy New Ears Graeme Leak
*2001 Death by Defenestration Joe Bugden]
*2001 Eden's Bequest Rosemary Austen
*2001 Sway Lisa Morisset
*2001 Slip - Synthetic Spaces Hugh Covill
*2000 Images from the Life of Nikola Tesla Constantine Koukias
*2000 The Tesla Project Constantine Koukias

Notable Laboratory Alumni

*Matthew Dewey - Singer and Composer, Director of the Tasmanian Composers Collective
*Alexander Dick - Writer
*Rachel Wenona Guy - Performer, Singer, Writer, Visual Artist
*Sarah Jones - Singer
*Michael Lampard - Singer and Composer
*Craig Wood- Performer and Composer

External links

* [http://www.ihosopera.com/ IHOS Music Theatre and Opera]
* [http://www.tasmaniancomposers.com/ The Tasmanian Composers Collective]
* [http://www.matthewdewey.com/ Matthew Dewey Composer]