About this project
I am canceling this project because of the unlikelihood of its being successful, and taking the opportunity to direct pledgers and likely sponsors to the Bathory Opera Website, where sponsorships can now be received directly. Thank you to everyone! We are closer to the goal through direct appeals.
Erzsébet Bathory was a noblewoman of 16th-17th century Hungary. Her fame comes from mythology of vampirism and blood-bathing ... neither of which are true. Indeed, the accusation that she killed hundreds of servants may also by a myth. But we know enough to find her both remarkable and terrifying, and Erzsébet: The Opera explores this in a thrilling hour-long monodrama.
The opera/monodrama on the life and death of Countess Erzsébet Báthory will take place in three locations in Vermont during late October 2011: Hyde Park Opera House (October 28), Haybarn Theatre at Goddard College (October 29) and Main Street Landing Black Box Theatre (October 30). It will star Lisa Jablow and the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Anne Decker. The production will be directed by Naomi Flanders with stage design by Pavel Kraus and production and lighting design by Michael Bean and graphics by Alex Vitzthum, with costuming by Meg Hammond.
You can download the score or download the libretto or download the budget or download the promotional brochure or download the mp3 demo. And then back the opera!
Fundraising for Erzsébet: The Opera is ongoing through the summer of 2011. This Kickstarter Project is a second pass at reaching the goal. Backers are invited to join in to help meet this portion ($5,464) of the total budget of $25,000 to produce the opera three times in 2011.
Why this amount? Because the Consortium of Vermont Composers has an incentive grant of $5,464 that must be matched 1:1.
The full details of this opera, its personnel and its presentation are on the Bathory Opera Website of Bathory.org.
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
10
Backers
$261
pledged of $5,464 goal
Funding Canceled
Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator on May 19, 2011.
Pledge $1 or more Pledge $1 or more
Download link to the opera performance in audio format.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
Download link to the opera performance in video format, and mention in the published musical score.
Pledge $20 or more Pledge $20 or more
SIgned program in the mail and download link to the opera performance in audio and video formats, and mention in the published musical score.
Pledge $30 or more Pledge $30 or more
Signed copy of the libretto and audio/video performance download links, and mention in the published musical score.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Published musical score of Erzsébet, autographed by the composer. This pledge also includes two ticket to the premiere or first-run performance, your name(s) in the premiere concert program, and download of the premiere performance recording.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Black T-shirt with red-and-white image of the Bathory seal on one side, and "Erzsébet: The Opera" on the other, plus an autographed CD recording of the premiere. This pledge also includes two tickets to the premiere or first-run performance and your name(s) in the premiere concert program.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
Complete bundle of all the other rewards (concert tickets, your names in the program, libretto, musical score, t-shirt, CD recording) PLUS a dedication on the published score itself and in the concert program to the fifteen benefactors AND dinner with the composer and cast after the Sunday night performance.
Pledge $1,500 or more Pledge $1,500 or more
Two xylophones made by Fred Carlson for David Gunn, one chromatic and the other using 10 tones per octave instead of 12, plus all the previous rewards.
Pledge $5,464 or more Pledge $5,464 or more
There were fewer than 100 Ionic Performer Synthesizers made in the early 1970s. David Gunn and I have one each. We were going to put them on eBay, but instead we are offering them as rewards for a large pledge to "Erzsébet: The Blood Countess Opera". You'll of course get all the other rewards as part of the package, but these are so rare you may never see another one.
Project By
Connected as Dennis Bathory-Kitsz
As part of the post-Fluxus generation of independent artists, Dennis Báthory-Kitsz composes and advocates for the presentation of nonpop—the music formerly known as classical. He has created more than 1,000 works for orchestras, sound sculptures, soloists, chamber ensembles, electronics, theater, installations, dancers, interactive multimedia, and performance events, as well as writing about music and multimedia arts. His work has been performed in 20 countries worldwide. Dennis created the We Are All Mozart ‘productivity’ project in 2007, composing 100 works in a single year, all on commission.
The music of Báthory-Kitsz includes uniquely designed electronic and acoustic instruments; computer software and hardware; synthesizers, e-boxes, electronic costumes, and the Rhythmatron; and his own extended voice performances. His lifelong nonpop advocacy has included directing the Trans/Media Arts Cooperative, Delaware Valley Festivals of the Avant-Garde, Kaxpiksu State Arts Festival, Vermont Composers Festivals, Amsterdramm, and Ought-One Festival of NonPop. He co-founded the Vermont Composers Consortium, Kalvos & Damian’s New Music Bazaar, and the NonPop International Network.
Báthory-Kitsz is a published author of several books and hundreds of articles in technology and the arts including Country Stores of Vermont, directs maltedMedia including its publisher Westleaf Edition, and is an adjunct professor of theory at Johnson State College.
