New Yorkers are in a for a unique experience as 1,000 singers will descend upon Manhattan’s elevated pedestrian park, the High Line, for the first ever performances of The Mile-Long Opera: A Biography of 7 O’Clock, which runs for five consecutive nights, October 3-7. Audiences will enter the walkway to find themselves completely immersed in this free and innovative choral performance that will surely be a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
The Mile-Long Opera brings 1,000 unique voices to the High Line this Fall
Singers from the Mile-Long Opera practicing. Photo Credit: Matthew Johnson.
The piece was conceived by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. Elizabeth Diller and Lynsey Peisinger direct, and Donald Nally conducts the 1,000-member chorus. Renowned poets Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine based the lyrics on real-life stories, gathered through first-hand interviews with New Yorkers, about what “7pm” means to them. For some, it is bedtime; others must start work at this unconventional time, just to get by.
“After working on the design of the High Line for over a decade and witnessing the rapid transformation of the surrounding area, I thought a lot about the life cycle of the city—its decay and rebirth—full of opportunities and contradictions,” explains Diller behind the inspiration for this project. “This vantage presented an opportunity for creative reflection about the speed of change of the contemporary city and the stories of its inhabitants. The park will be a 30-block-long urban stage for an immersive performance in which the audience will be mobile, the performers will be distributed, and the city will be both protagonist and backdrop for a collective experience celebrating our diversity.”
Singers will perform along the entirety of the nearly mile-and-a-half-long High Line. The interviews, with everyday New Yorkers, that informed the text they’ll sing were conducted by Peoplmovr, a creative studio specializing in engagement and communications — in close partnership with the High Line. The agency helped to form partnerships with non-profit cultural organizations across all five boroughs. These include Abrons Arts Center, the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, and the High Line in Manhattan; ARTs East NY in Brooklyn; Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement in Queens; The POINT CDC in the Bronx; and Snug Harbor in Staten Island. With such a close connection to each of the different pockets of this city, the organizers were able not only to research issues that affect New Yorkers, but also to hear their unique stories related to this time of day and what it has meant to them throughout their lives.
“It really started at the real neighborhood and community level,” explains Aaron Cedolia, co-founder of Peoplmovr, “to chat with people on the phone about what 7 o’clock meant to them growing up, what it means to them now, and what change they’ve seen in their neighborhood. Even just the idea of ‘what are you doing tonight at 7 o’clock or tomorrow at 7 o’clock’ — stories were just flowing out of people.”
Tickets for The Mile-Long Opera are free, but require reservations, which open today via Eventbrite. Bookings are limited to two per registration.
