Ecce Arts is set to present the world premiere of “The Carp,” a new chamber operetta by composer and long-time Ecce collaborator Martin Brody.

The opera will be presented on Oct. 10, 2026 at New England Conservatory’s Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre in Boston.

The production travels to Florence, Italy for its Italian premiere on Oct. 16, 2026 at Villa I Tatti, Harvard University’s Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, where Brody wrote the work during his residency as Fellow in Residence in 2025. Both performances feature the same cast and ensemble, conducted by Stratis Minakakis.

“The Carp” is a 45-minute work for four singers and five instrumentalists, with a libretto by art historian Dario Gamboni. It takes as its subject a 2003 news story, reported in The New York Times, of a carp said to have spoken before its slaughter at a fish market.

The cast will include soprano Stephanie Lamprea as Zalman’s Wife, baritone Nathan Halbur as Zalman, tenor Samuel Rosner as Zev, and baritone Corey Gaudreau as Luis, with an ensemble of clarinetist Aleksis Martin, violinists Emma Burge and Anna Pavlou, violist Philip Rawlinson, and cellist Robbie Bui.