A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME IMMERSION

Imagine yourself in LA's historic Union Station,
surrounded by passengers and passersby,
wearing a state-of-the-art pair of Sennheiser wireless headphones,
and experiencing a new opera happening all around you - live.

Over the next 70 minutes, you will discover a secret level of reality at the station,
isolating singers and dancers from pedestrians,
soaking in LA’s architectural gem,
and having a highly private experience in this public space.

MUSIC

Composer and librettist Christopher Cerrone
adapts Italo Calvino’s beloved novel.

The story depicts a host of fantastical cities the explorer Marco Polo narrates to Kublai Khan:
unreal cities of desire, of memory, of the imagination.
Cerrone’s delicate musical setting explores sonic qualities of decay and lushness
with a haunting simplicity.

The opera was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

“A rising star.”
The New Yorker

THE PRODUCTION

The intimacy of the music is heightened and estranged
in director Yuval Sharon’s concept.

No two audience members will have the same visual experience of the opera as they
wander freely through the operating station, searching for the singers and dancers.
Sharon is Artistic Director of The Industry, LA's home for new
and experimental opera.

“Theater directors drool over the über-creative Sharon's ingenious staging.”
Stage and Cinema

DANCE

The Industry is partnering with LA Dance Project,
the artist collective led by choreographer Benjamin Millepied,
to make this opera a truly interdisciplinary experience.

Renowned LA-based choreographer Danielle Agami guides LA Dance Project's
company of seven dancers through a constantly changing series of pictures,
creating both large-scale patterns throughout the architecture
and beautiful miniature moments.

“Agami is a creative genius.”
SeattleDances

SOUND BY SENNHEISER

The involvement of Sennheiser,
a leader in sound and wireless transmission technology, ensures
that Invisible Cities will offer the highest possible sound reproduction
without distortion, delay and interference.

This one-of-a-kind intersection of the classical arts and state-of-the-art technology was not
possible even ten years ago, and would remain unrealizable without Sennheiser's
pursuit of innovation and perfection.

THE COMMUNITY

In addition to Sennheiser, Invisible Cities is made possible with leadership
support by TRAXX Restaurant, The California Community Foundation,
The Los Angeles Philanthropic Committee for the Arts,
and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura.

The score of Invisible Cities is commissioned by Stephen A. Block and Raulee Marcus.
Major support also provided by Gary and Lolly Brown, Mary Ann O'Connor
and Stuart Meiklejohn, Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting, Myrna Cook,
and the generosity of many individual supporters.