Autumn 2020The Finnish National Opera’s Laila has won the international FEDORA Digital Prize. The winner of the €50,000 prize was announced on 18 November. Other contenders on the shortlist included prestigious names such as London’s Royal Opera House and Turin’s Teatro Regio.
The Finnish National Opera’s Laila invites the audience to shape her reality and the world of the future together with artificial intelligence. She challenges us to encounter our hopes, fears and anxieties related to technology and the unknown tomorrow.
The new, interactive work created by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paula Vesala, Tuomas Norvio and the Ekho Collective for the Finnish National Opera rejects the traditional roles of performing arts, as its music and visuality evolve and change in interaction with the audience. In Laila, you are not the audience, but one of many actors shaping reality. Laila is a unique experience, which is different every time.
Please note that the floor of Laila’s performance space is made of glass. There are 6 people experiencing Laila at the same time.
Please note that the production includes moments of powerful flashing lights as well as loud sound effects and music.
Ekho Collective is a group of artists, designers and technology professionals, who specialize in designing and implementing immersive experiences. The multidisciplinary collective works at the intersection of art and technology, with the objective of bringing them together in unexpected ways. Members of the collective are Minja Axelsson, Heikki Heiskanen, Essi Huotari, Olli Kilpi, Saara-Henriikka Mäkinen, Joonas Nissinen and Iina Taijonlahti.
The work’s sound is a recorded interpretation by the opera singers and orchestra musicians of the Finnish National Opera.
Soprano
Krista Kujala, Sanna Iljin, Helianna Herkkola
Alto
Anna Erokhina, Raisa Vaarna, Ida Wallén
Tenor
Halim Shon, Joonas Eloranta, Jere Martikainen
Bass
Arto Hosio, Andrus Mitt, Robert McLoud, Jyrki Korhonen
Percussion
Uolevi Högström, Jukka Koski, Virva Kuusi, Mauri Myllys, Heikki Parviainen, Keijo Puumalainen
In addition, Laila’s voice will be provided by
Paula Vesala, Miriam Hilpo (Finnish)
Gunilla Hemming, Emil Paloniemi (Swedish)
Sanna-June Hyde, Miriam Hilpo (English)
Please note that the floor of Laila’s performance space is made of glass. There are 6 people experiencing Laila at the same time.
Please note that the production includes moments of powerful flashing lights as well as loud sound effects and music.
Laila is performed primarily in Finnish. Performances in English and Swedish are available daily at the following times:
English at 5:30 p.m.
Swedish at 6 p.m.
Please arrive at Almi Hall in good time, at least 15 minutes before the time printed on your ticket. If you are more than 5 minutes late, your ticket is automatically cancelled.
No refunds are given for cancellations due to late arrival.
Please note that face masks and shoe covers must be worn during the Laila experience. These are handed out at Almi Hall before you enter the performance space. We recommend that you wear flat shoes. Heeled shoes must be removed before the performance and replaced by shoe covers.
You can bring your phone with you, but please switch it to flight mode. Photography and recording video are allowed in the performance space, but it’s forbidden to make or take calls and to live stream to social media.
Laila is a production of the Opera Beyond ecosystem, which collides arts with emerging technologies. In connection with Laila, the audience will experience a new interactive installation Common Domain by media artist Kalle Rasinkangas, created in collaboration with Opera Beyond and Nokia Bell Labs.
The collaboration is part of the Nokia Bell Labs Experiments in Arts and Technology programme, in which artists, engineers and researchers explore new opportunities for humans to interact and connect. Kalle Rasinkangas works within a community of top tier researchers, while making the most of Nokia Bell Labs’ advanced technology.
Performances 21–23 August are part of the Helsinki Fest festival programme.
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