Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Opera Saratoga, and the Bergamot Quartet are set to join forces to present a free workshop performance of “The Other Side of Silence.”

The workshop will be held on Oct. 16 free and open to the public at the Concert Hall at the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. The workshop performance will be showcased thanks to the 2024 International Symposium On Assistive Technology For Music And Art.

The work features a libretto by Mark Steidl and Katherine Skovira and music by Robert Whalen.

“The Other Side of Silence” is a new opera for synthetic and acoustic voices written by and for people who use Alternative Assistive Communication. The story draws direct inspiration from the life of Mark Steidl, a gender non-binary person who uses an Augmentative and Alternative Communication device to talk with the world.

The cast will include Opera Saratoga regulars Meghan Kasanders, Jennifer Zetlan, Theo Hayes and Isaiah Musik-Ayala.