Water Memory (Jala Smirti)– A World Premiere June 12

Water Memory by composer Kitty Brazelton and librettist Vaibu Mohan, winners of the 2024 96-Hour Opera competition, tells the story of Janani, a South Asian woman navigating the early stages of dementia. The opera explores memory, family, and connection and the ways Artificial Intelligence can be a vital tool for sustaining these human bonds in a deeply moving work. 

Brazelton is a New York-based American composer, bandleader, improviser, singer/songwriter, and instrumentalist. She has released albums and fronted bands across varied genres, including contemporary classical, electronic music, pop, art rock, punk, and avant-garde jazz. She was awarded the 2012 Carl von Ossietsky Composition Prize for Storm, a choral setting of Psalm 104 featuring Brazelton's own retranslation. Her opera Art of Memory was awarded the 2015 Grant for Female Composers from Opera America.

Mohan is a writer, performer, producer, educator, and arts administrator based in New York City. Hailing from Arizona by way of Canada and Tamil Nadu, India, she brings a unique global perspective to her multifaceted career in the arts. As a specialist in musical theater, Mohan works as a lyricist, book writer, and composer. Her work has been showcased at prestigious venues including Lincoln Center, Rattlestick Theater, Brooklyn Children's Theater, The American Opera Project, and The Phoenix Theater Company. She was a 2021 Write Out Loud Finalist. 

Directed by Gregory Luis Boyle and conducted by Chaowen Ting, the cast features Marian Anderson Award winner Idira Mahajan as Janani. She is joined by Georgia-native Tanushka Sisodiya and tenor Joseph Ittoop as Janani’s adult children, Malli and Chandru, with soprano Samantha Burke as MPO (Memory Processing Operator). Jacob Lay both performs the role of Joseph and is a member of the chorus. Additional members of the “Hydrangea” chorus include soprano Hanan Davis, alto Ebony Collier, and tenor Timothy Miller. The creative team includes the renowned scenic designer Donald Eastman, costume, wig, and makeup designer Emmie Tuttle, and lighting designer Ben Rawson. 

The development of Water Memory (Jala Smirti)has been deeply shaped by a dynamic collaboration with Georgia Tech, bringing together innovation in both music and technology. Conductor Chaowen Ting, a faculty member, has played a pivotal role in fostering connections between the university and the opera, helping to expand the project’s creative and technical scope. Through her leadership, TeAiris Majors, a graduate research assistant in the School of Music, joined the team. Described as a “sonic architect,” Majors integrates live and recorded sound to create a layered, mixed-reality experience within the work. Reflecting on this interdisciplinary partnership, Associate Vice Provost for the Arts at Georgia Tech Jason Freeman explains:

"We are thrilled to host the world premiere of Water Memory at the Ferst Center for the Arts. This opera reflects the essence of Georgia Tech’s mission to advance technology and improve the human condition. From our researchers sharing recent breakthroughs in robotics, assistive tech, and aging with the creators, to the pivotal roles played by our School of Music faculty and students in the performance, this project exemplifies the deep collaboration we hope to continue with The Atlanta Opera.”