“Epic, intimate and open-hearted”, Nicole Brancato and Jeremy Weiss share with us some brilliant insight into their bold, modern and unique take on chamber opera, and how they created their exciting show, Infinitesimal.
What is your favourite thing about Infinitesimal?
NICOLE: The way it blends science, memory, and music into something both intimate and expansive that connects us deeply to our shared humanity.
JEREMY: The way it takes the singer-piano duo into a vast sonic and theatrical landscape where both performers have equal voices.
What will the audience take from your show?
NICOLE: They will explore cutting-edge research into one of the most universal human experiences: how, in our final moments, we are immersed in our memories as if we are reliving our lives over again. Along the way, they’ll experience breathtaking music, a deep sense of connection, and a mind-expanding journey.
JEREMY: Audiences can experience the vast and powerful experience of being at an opera in a piece that feels relatable, intimate, and contemporary – a truly operatic experience where people feel like they belong.
Describe an Infinitesimal in three words?
NICOLE: Visceral. Luminous. Unconventional.
JEREMY: Epic. Intimate. Open-hearted.
How would you describe your performance to someone who has never seen your show before?
NICOLE: It’s like witnessing vivid dreams unfold and merge together: part concert, part ritual, part story, where you journey through memory, meaning, and the great mysteries of our lives.
JEREMY: Our show blends theatre through dialogue and monologue, memoir through personal storytelling, and music through a genre-defying mix of voice, piano, and electronics.
Emotionally speaking, the show feels like sitting in a close friend’s living room and having a heartfelt conversation about life.
Why is this show important for the wider public and why is it important to you?
NICOLE: At a time when our world feels increasingly divided, Infinitesimal creates a space where people can come together around something we all share: the reality of our own lives and the passage we all travel at their end.
It offers time and space to reflect on what connects us – threads that are rarely spoken about in daily life but are fundamental to who we are. For me, the importance lies in building bridges through that shared reflection, inviting connection where it might not otherwise happen.
How did this Infinitesimal come to exist? What was your inspiration?
The seed for Infinitesimal was planted on top of a mountain. Jeremy and I were commissioned by Pure.Art Circle in Italy, and during a hike in the Dolomites – surrounded by summer wildflowers, dramatic cliffs, and the stillness of high altitude – we had a conversation about life that changed everything. That feeling of being so small and yet part of something much vaster, of sensing the earth’s cycles, its fierce beauty and quietudes, became central to the work. We even wove field recordings from that landscape directly into the music. Another deep inspiration was Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, with its sense of awe, transcendence, and renewal.
That moment on the mountain gave us both a visceral sense of scale, of our own lives within something infinite.
How did you develop the show, and who did you work with to create Infinitesimal?
NICOLE: From the beginning, this work has been collaborative. We co-created the narrative, libretto, and music together. We worked with social psychologist/researcher Calista Small of the international organisation More In Common to build tenants of interconnectedness into the structure of Infinitesimal. We also conducted many interviews during the composition process and recorded participant lullabies, which have become part of the fabric of the work. Multi-cultural yet universal, lullabies are a central theme to Infinitesimal. And our director Kevin Newbury has been a fundamental part, shaping the dramatic vision and bringing out the story in brilliant and unexpected ways.
Can you describe the composition process and how you transmute chamber opera into an expansive sonic landscape?
This work builds on the chamber opera field by expanding the paradigm of the singer/pianist duo. Rather than positioning the pianist as a supporting accompanist, the piece treats both performers as equal narrative and musical voices: the baritone plays piano, the pianist sings, and they sing and play together. Their stories unfold in parallel, intertwining across the performance. Infinitesimal includes a number of genre-defying surprises like reverse-role duet (where the baritone plays the piano and the pianist sings in harmony), a playful four-hands piano duet (where they both play together at the piano), and extended piano techniques (performed by both the singer and the pianist).
Additionally, Infinitesimal is an electroacoustic work, with a serious electronic presence in the scoring. This part combines field recording, lullabies, and audio processing with acoustic voice and piano to create otherworldly scenes throughout the opera.