Clara Olivares, who received her PhD in Music Composition from UC Berkeley in May 2021, will debut her second opera, Les Sentinelles, at the Opéra National de Bordeaux in November 2024, followed by performances at the Opéra de Limoges in January 2025 and the Opéra-Comique in Paris in April 2025. This opera is a joint commission from the three co-producing opera houses and has received support from the French Ministry of Culture's grant for original musical works, as well as the Beaumarchais - SACD Lyric Award.
Together with librettist and stage director Chloé Lechat, Clara explores contemporary issues through an innovative take on the opera form. Their collaborative writing process has yielded a project that seamlessly blends stage and musical direction to feature three singers, an actress, and a narrating orchestra. With their help, this opera captures the subtleties of intimate life in all its complexity. A brief summary of the opera follows:
A mother and her gifted but troubled daughter cross paths with a couple of women in crisis, sparking an unlikely alliance. The adults, each with their own struggles and aspirations, come together to support the young girl in her search for meaning and direction. Through their intertwined lives, Les Sentinelles explores how each character, embodying the role of a "sentinel," seeks to guide and protect the child. Yet, as they impose their differing ideals of happiness and fulfillment upon her, the girl gradually drifts away, yearning for a freedom unbounded by their expectations.
The opera delves into profound themes of human connection and the fragile architecture of relationships. It brings to light the intricate patterns inherited from living together, the bittersweet balance between desire and responsibility, and the complexity of self-discovery in a world that constantly demands compromise. The characters' interactions reveal the multifaceted nature of love and the conflicts that arise from disparate dreams and social inequalities.
The Department of Music is pleased to see Clara’s continued success. Her music has been premiered by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, Arditti Quartet, and Ensemble Intercontemporain, among others. Clara Olivares was the associate composer of the Paris Chamber Orchestra from 2020 to 2022 and has been a laureate of the Banque Populaire Foundation since 2021. In 2024, she was selected for a six-month residency in the artistic research residency program (ARRP) at Ircam. Her music has been performed in the United States, in Finland, Danmark, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Italia, Brazil, and Venezuela. Her recent works are published at Éditions Billaudot.