FANTINI FUTURO

On Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 7pm, composer and instrumentalist Ben Neill presents his immersive electronic opera Fantini Futuro at Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, located at 261 Mott Street in New York. This one night only performance also acts as the premiere of the opera’s full presentation, as well as a benefit for restoring the church’s historic organs. Tickets range from $20 to 30 before processing fees, and are available at Eventbrite: http://bit.ly/fantini22

Created by Ben Neill for the Mutantrumpet (his self-designed electro-acoustic instrument), countertenor, Baroque keyboards, and interactive video projections, this fantastical piece is based on the music and life of early Baroque trumpeter/composer Girolamo Fantini. Fantini himself was responsible for bringing the trumpet indoors from the hunt and the battlefield to the realm of art music. Here, using an array of interactive technologies, Fantini is depicted as a traveler through space and time through a synthesis of early music, minimalism, and digital media performance. His translocation of the trumpet from outside to inside is mirrored and reimagined by the futuristic Mutantrumpet V4, which extends the acoustic instrument into the virtual realm.

Including Neill, this interactive performance features GRAMMY®-nominated countertenor Ryland Angel, and Gwendolyn Toth, director of the early music ensemble ARTEK, and recognized as one of America’s leading performers on early keyboard instruments. Bob McGrath of Ridge Theater directs. Technical support for the performance has been provided by Eastern Connecticut State University and Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Co-produced with ARTEK, Fantini Futuro was awarded a New York State Council on the Arts grant in Film and New Media in 2022. A 2020 demonstration video of the Mutantrumpet V4, which made its debut in Fantini Futuro, received over 800,000 views on social media and was shared thousands of times.