OCEAN
Opera
‘Ocean’ is an opera, currently in the early stages of development.
Adapted from the 1961 novel ‘Solaris’ by Stanislaw Lem, ‘Ocean’ explores the limits of human knowledge – as a group of scientists try to understand the nature of a vast, sentient ocean on the surface of an alien planet.
In Lem’s novel, the ocean of Solaris holds up an indifferent mirror to the people who are studying it – and they struggle to cope with what is reflected back to them.
As humanity now stands at a critical juncture with technologies of our own creation (Artificial Intelligence) and with the consequences of our interactions with our natural environment (Climate Change), Ocean explores whether it is possible for us to transform our thinking and behaviour towards things that we do not know or understand.
As part of the research and development of this work, I was incredibly fortunate to be taken to visit Scott Base through Antarctica New Zealand’s Community Engagement Programme.
It was an indescribable and transformative experience that has shifted my perspective on every aspect of life – allowing me to experience an unimaginably beautiful, vast and mysterious place; the opportunity to live in conditions that are as close to space as I am ever likely to get here on earth; and the privilege of interacting with a community of people who collaborate peacefully across all the conceivable barriers of humanity (language, politics, nationality, ethnicity, religion…) to better understand and live in the world.
Selections from Ocean – as a work in progress – will be performed by Orchestra Wellington during my 2025 / 2026 Composer Residency.
VICTORIA KELLY 