Ben Frost artist talk
Hosted by Minnesota Opera’s Ryan Taylor
Wed, Feb 1, 5:30 pm
Minneapolis Club
In partnership with American Composers Forum and Minnesota Opera’s Luminary Arts Center
Hear from Australia-born/Iceland-based artist Ben Frost as he discusses his process of translating JA Baker's classic novel The Peregrine into an opera titled Cold Air Rises—the first part of which will debut at The Great Northern's 2023 festival, performed by local ensemble MPLS (imPulse) Feb 4 at Luminary Arts Center.
Ben Frost is a composer, producer, sound artist, and director. His work includes the studio albums Theory of Machines (2007), By The Throat (2009), A U R O R A (2014) and The Centre Cannot Hold (2017) and spans an array of other forms including installations, live performance, scores for dance, theatre, and various studio collaborations. He has composed several scores for film including the Palme d’Or-nominated Sleeping Beauty, the series Dark, 1899, and Raised By Wolves with director Ridley Scott. Frost has collaborated extensively with the Irish artist Richard Mosse and American cinematographer Trevor Tweeten to produce three multi-channel video and sound installations: The Enclave (2013) and Incoming (2017) and Broken Spectre (2022). He has written and directed two operas The Wasp Factory (2013) and The Murder of Halit Yozgat (2021)—a collaboration with research agency Forensic Architecture. In recent years Frost has expanded his work to include several installation projects, focussing on pure exploitation of the physical properties of sound.
About the host:
Ryan Taylor serves as President and General Director of Minnesota Opera, where he is also a graduate of its Resident Artist Program. Ryan previously worked with Arizona Opera as General Director, ADA Artist Management as Artist Manager, and Wolf Trap Opera as Manager of Community Development. He also held posts as General Director of Berkshire Opera Company, Artistic Director of Singers Beyond Borders and Co-founder of the Southeastern Festival of Song. Ryan enjoyed a 10-year career as a baritone, singing in the United States, Germany, Canada, and across Asia, also working as a stage director and producer before moving into arts administration.
As a consultant, guest lecturer and educator, Ryan maintains relationships with a number of schools, training programs, and arts organizations. He is currently on the Board of OPERA America, for whom he has co-chaired the New General Director’s Roundtable, and is the immediate past President of the Arts Partnership in St. Paul, Minnesota. He remains particularly interested in the advancement of emerging artists, and in the health and development of arts organizations for whom he leads strategic planning to improve creative environments for artists, staff, boards, and communities.
Related event: