SENSORIUM EX will debut on May 22 - 25 in Omaha, Nebraska as the headlining event of the Common Senses Festival - a festival that amplifies voices, breaks barriers, and redefines what accessibility means in the arts.

This year, the theme of the festival is Voice, which is all about how we express, communicate, and connect across barriers. As the keynote speaker, Dr. Lateef McLeod, powerfully reminds us: “For me, communication being a right is self-evident. Since humans are social animals, we all need to be socially engaged with other people, and being capable of adequately communicating is an integral part of that.”

Tickets are now live - more details here. 

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SENSORIUM EX is an ambitious new opera by acclaimed composer Paola Prestini and Brenda Shaughnessy, co-directed by Jerron Herman and Jay Scheib, that synthesizes artificial intelligence, disability, and the arts in a groundbreaking and innovative artistic work. Elizabeth Askren is the Music Director. 

Operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), disability, and the arts, Sensorium Ex explores the fundamental question of what it means to have voice, and the nature of voice beyond language. Internationally-acclaimed composer Paola Prestini’s expansive, multi-modal work tells a dystopian tale centered on a mother and her son, a nonverbal, nonambulatory child with multiple disabilities, as they resist a villainous corporate entity's attempts to destroy what it means to be human.

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Cast: Hailey McAvoy, mezzo-sopranoKader Zioueche, actorJakob Jordan, actorJu Hyeon Han, sopranoGerlinde Sämann, soprano Lucia Lucas, baritoneJoshua Jeremiah, baritoneOther cast members to be announced soon.

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Produced by VisionIntoArt in association with Beth Morrison ProjectsAndrea Lauer, Scenic and Costume DesignerAnnie Wiegand, Lighting DesignerGarth MacAleavey, Sound DesignerPeter Torpey, Video Designer

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