Astronautica - Voices of Women in Space, a newly commissioned work of music, voice, and video by women composers, has a libretto drawn from the words of the women who have traveled in outer space and seen our world from a dramatic new perspective. Astronautica is an artistic evocation of the transformation that happens when one sees our small planet set against the endless blackness of space. Without borders. Without the artificial boundaries that divide – and could well destroy – humankind. Astronautica launches Voices of The New, Voices of Ascension’s innovative vocal chamber music project.

Originally scheduled to premiere in May of 2020 at National Sawdust and The Flea Theater, Astronautica made a fluid and inspiring transformation to an online presentation with stunning multi-media components. The response to the Jan 27, 2021 online world premiere was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, and Voices of Ascension was delighted to be able to present a live premiere in October 2021.

Astronautica continues to have a life beyond the initial presentations. To find out more about booking a performance of Astronautica or to license the video, please contact Black Tea Music.

"This is amazing!!" "Great visual and great singing!" "chills."

"I can't imagine a production more perfect for our current reality. It's spooky."

"This is fantastic...I most definitely need to watch this several times."

Voices of Ascension is pleaseded to have kicked-off our Season 2021-2022 with the long-awaited in-person debut of Astronautica on October 21 at Peter Norton Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia.

Performed by the women of Trio Triumphatrix

Lindsay Kesselman, Hai- Ting Chinn, and Kirsten Sollek. 

Featuring the work of 9 Women Composers

Hai-Ting Chinn, Renée Favand-See, Jennifer Jolley, Elaine Lachica, Gilda Lyons, Rashonda Reeves, Kamala Sankaram, Jane Sheldon, Bora Yoon

ABOUT TRIO TRIUMPHATRIX

Hai-Ting Chinn

Mezzo-Soprano

American Mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn performs in a wide range of styles and venues, from Purcell to Pierrot Lunaire, Cherubino to The King & I, J.S. Bach to P.D.Q. Bach. She has performed with New York City Opera, The Wooster Group, Philip Glass/Robert Wilson, OperaOmnia, American Symphony Orchestra; on the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Mann Center in Philadelphia, and London’s West End; and at Festivals including the Edinburgh, Verbier, Grimeborn, Tête-à-Tête, and Festival d’Autumne. As an Artist in Residence at HERE arts center, Hai-Ting created and performed Science Fair: An Opera With Experiments, a staged solo show of science set to music.

Hai-Ting was featured in the revival and tour of Phillip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, performed at venues around the world from 2011–2014, and sang the role of Belle in Glass’s La Belle et la Bête, also on tour. Operatic roles include Didone in The Wooster Group’s wildly experimental production of La Didone, Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea and Medea in Cavalli’s Giasone with Opera Omnia, as well as Nicklausse and the Muse in Offenbach’s Les Contes D’Hoffman, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, and in Peter Maxwell Davies’s unaccompanied monodrama, The Medium. An ardent advocate of new vocal repertoire, she has premiered new works by Conrad Cummings, Yoav Gal, Renée Favand-See, Amy Beth Kirsten, Tarik O’Regan, Ellen Reid, Matthew Schickele, Stefan Weisman, and Du Yun, and she was featured in the 2017 Resonant Bodies Festival, a singer-centered celebration of new music in New York.

Of mixed Chinese and Jewish ancestry, Hai-Ting is a native of Northern California and currently resides in New York City. She holds degrees from the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music.

Lindsay Kesselman

Soprano

Hailed by Fanfare Magazine as an “artist of growing reputation for her artistry and intelligence…with a voice of goddess-like splendor” Lindsay Kesselman is a soprano who passionately advocates for contemporary music, actively commissioning and collaborating with a diverse array of composers to create unique, groundbreaking, and dramatically-inspired works for the voice. 

This season, Kesselman will be featured on several new recording releases: Chris Cerrone’s The Pieces That Fall to Earth with LA-based ensemble Wild Up (New Amsterdam Records), Mathew Rosenblum’s Falling with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (New Focus Recordings), and Jon Magnussen’s Twinge with HAVEN (Blue Griffin). 

Recent and upcoming highlights include a leading role in a new opera by Chris Cerrone, a world premiere performance at the national CBDNA convention in 2019 (John Mackey), a world premiere with the UNCG Wind Symphony in 2019 (D.J. Sparr), Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra, the John Corigliano 80th birthday celebration at National Sawdust (2018), Quixote (Amy Beth Kirsten and Mark DeChiazza) with Peak Performances at Montclair State University (2017), the release of Antique Violences on Blue Griffin in 2017 featuring Songs from the End of the World (John Mackey), a leading role in Louis Andriessen’s opera Theatre of the World with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Dutch National Opera (live recording released on Nonesuch Records, 2017), and an international tour of Einstein on the Beach with the Philip Glass Ensemble (2012-2015). This production won the prestigious Laurence Olivier award for Best New Opera Production in 2013. 

Kesselman holds degrees in voice performance from Rice University and Michigan State University. 

Kirsten Sollek

Contralto

Called “ …an appealingly rich alto…” by The New York Times and “…an ideal Bach alto…” with “…elemental tone quality…” by The Philadelphia Inquirer, contralto Kirsten Sollek is sought out for her unique sound and compelling performance style. 

Ms. Sollek has been featured with the Kansas City Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, Tafelmusik, Seattle Baroque, Pacific Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Musica Sacra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Dallas Bach Society. Opera credits include the role of Rosmira in Handel’s Partenope with Boston Baroque, Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina with Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, and covering the title role in Handel’s Rinaldo for the Glyndebourne Festival. She has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Lufthansa Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, the Ojai Festival, and June in Buffalo.

In new music, she has collaborated regularly with Ensemble Signal and Alarm Will Sound, performing much of the vocal music of Steve Reich. Ms. Sollek can be heard on recordings of Reich’s The Desert Music and Tehillim with Alarm Will Sound, and Music for 18 Musicians with Ensemble Signal. Sollek is featured in the role of the Dying Cow in Lisa Bielawa’s serial made-for-TV opera, Vireo. Over the past decade, she has worked extensively with composer John Zorn, premiering his music in New York, Milan, and Paris. 2017 performances include Zorn’s music at the Louvre (in front of the Mona Lisa), as well as at Jazz Fest Sarajevo, and at November Music in Den Bosch. Other season highlights: Reich’s Desert Music for the Wall to Wall Reich celebration at Symphony Space, David Lang’s Just for the Bang on a Can marathon at the Brooklyn Museum and with the Emery LeCrone Dance company, Reich’s Tehillim and Lang’s I want to live at the Bang on a Can festival marathon at Mass MoCA.