EP601: World Premiere of BABA: The Life and Death of Stana with Karmina Šilec and Shira Cion of Kitka

Today on In Unison, we’re chatting with composer and director Karmina Šilec of Carmina Slovenika and Executive Artistic director Shira Cion of San Francisco-based Kitka about the upcoming premiere of the newly commissioned opera, “BABA: The Life and Death of Stana.”  This new opera offers an innovative, non-narrative take on Balkan epic story-singing traditions and explores themes of gender, otherness, choice, virginity, sexual identity, and the complexities of interpreting these Balkan gender-transformation stories through a contemporary, liberal, western gaze.

Music excerpts

• "Fly Trembling Spirit," by Kelly Atkins, performed by Kitka
• “Heyamoli,” by Tamar Buadze, performed by Kitka

Episode references

• BABA: The Life and Death of Stana
• Karmina Šilec 
• Choregie technique

Theme Song: Mr. Puffy by Avi Bortnik, arr. by Paul Kim. Performed by Dynamic