San Francisco Bay Area composer Lisa Mezzacappa and writer Beth Lisick have announced the final episode in their podcast opera, “The Electronic Lover.”

The nine-episode serial story is set in 1980s chatrooms. It is a comedic drama features soprano Shawnette Sulker, mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz,  the Del Sol Quartet, the Premier Ensemble of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, among others. The opera is scored for six lead female vocalists, three male vocalists, a three-person choir, three instrumentalists, narrator, and guests. The music combines chamber art song with jazz improvisation, rock energy and experimental soundscapes.

More than five years in the making, the opera was originally released as a series of free podcast episodes beginning in summer of 2020, and concludes this spring with the radio premiere of the final episode, on-air at WTJU 91.1 / WTJU.net in Charlottesville, VA on June 1 at 8 p.m. EST. The program features an interview and Q&A with Mezzacappa before a live studio audience.

The approximately 4-hour work will be released as nine separate catalog numbers on the lnnova imprint on May 31. It will be available for streaming and download via Bandcamp, Apple Music, and all streaming services. The release also includes a pdf download of the full libretto.

John Finkbeiner, Myles Boisen, and Eli Crews served as engineers. The Electronic Lover” was commissioned by the Paul Dresher Ensemble/New Performance Traditions.