Our shows feature new and established artists in small ensembles of 3-10 performers or in full opera/theater productions. Voice Afire Opera-Cabaret, a production company begun in Canada by composer Ray Luedeke, moved to New York City in 2010. Initially concentrating on small ensemble, music-theater concerts, it has expanded to include full-length operas. Opera productions, performed in concert, include A Doll's House and The Lady from the Sea based on the Ibsen plays, and Wild Flowers, based on a Grimm Brothers fairy tale. Opera-Cabaret productions include:
Butterfly's Trouble, an English language adaptation for two singers, one actor, and four instrumentalists of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly; I Confess, I Have Lived, for 2 singers, 2 actors and 4 instrumentalists, using as its text the sensual poetry of Pablo Neruda; Close Embrace, a multi-media tango cabaret; The Art of Love / Into the Labyrinth, for 2 pianos, actor, and visuals, based on the writings of Ovid, the ancient Roman author; The Magical Singing Drum, a children’s show based on an African legend and using African drum music; Kafka Shorts for string quartet and 2 actors, based on Franz Kafka short stories; and In Kharms Way, also for string quartet and 2 actors, using a text by the Russian "theater of the absurd" writer, Daniil Kharms. Bio Ray Luedeke
Composer Ray Luedeke was born in New York City. He attended the Eastman School of Music, the Vienna Academy of Music, Dartmouth College where he studied with George Crumb, and Northwestern University where he studied with Alan Stout. His output is extensive and varied. It runs the gamut from entertaining theater pieces for children, through a long list of sophisticated solo and chamber music to colorful, carefully crafted pieces for orchestra, and three full-length operas. Recordings of his music include Shadow Music with the Louisville Orchestra, The Transparency of Time with pianist Andre LaPlante and the Winnipeg Symphony, The Moon in the Labyrinth with harpist Judy Loman and the Orford String Quartet, Brass Quintet with the New Mexico Brass Quintet, Circus Music with the Hannaford Street Silver Band, Ah, Matsushima! with violin/marimba duo Jacques and Michael Israelievitch, and Tango Dreams with world champion accordionist Alex Sevastian. Canada's famed Quartetto Gelato recorded Ray’s brilliant arrangement of Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin and performed it worldwide.
