Falling into Heaven

IHOS Opera, Kimisis—Falling Asleep

Kimisis—Falling Asleep, IHOS Opera photo Peter Mathew

As part of Sydney’s Art Month and the Greek Festival, IHOS Opera will present composer-director Constantine Koukias’ chamber opera Kimisis—Falling Asleep. In the Eastern Orthodox Church Kimisis commemorates the Dormition, the ‘falling asleep,’ or death and assumption into Heaven of Mary, mother of Christ.

The company believes that while Kimisis will appeal to Orthodox believers, its “experiential foray into our own ephemerality,” (press release) will have wider appeal.

For many years an integral and influential player in the Tasmanian arts scene, Koukias has moved to Amsterdam, premiering Kimisis at Splendor Amsterdam and the Karavaan Festival in 2014.

The opera features soprano Irene Sarrinikolaou, a trombonist, DJ and award-winning architects Elvio Brianese and Peta Heffernan whose panopticon design will implicate and immerse the audience in the ritual of transcendence.

IHOS Opera, Kimisis—Falling Asleep, Verge Gallery, Jane Foss Russell Building, Sydney University, 25-28 March

RealTime issue #125 Feb-March 2015 pg. 40

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