Due Donne Productions Stages First Opera using Animal Crossing: “Hansel and Gretel” on July 24, 2020

Grab your broomsticks and your turnips! Due Donne Productions brings back their classic production of Hansel and Gretel in a new 30 minute version of the opera with ANIMATION!

Watch the :17 second promo video | Download Photos

For Immediate Release—Due Donne Productions, the opera company founded by two New England Conservatory (NEC) graduates, presents the first opera using Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The 30-minute version of the classic Engelbert Humperdinck opera “Hansel and Gretel” on the game platform is the brainchild of Celeste Pellegrino and Larisa Bainton, who saw the need to creatively engage musicians while staying at home due to COVID-19. All of the vocal and piano parts are recorded by the vocalists and pianist at home, and will be edited into the world of Animal Crossing. The opera will premiere on the company’s YouTube page on July 24, 2020 at 7:30pm ET.

Pellegrino and Bainton are using a shortened, family-friendly reduction of the original opera score. The version, created by NEC faculty member Daniel Wyneken, is enjoyable and engaging for all ages. To create this ambitious project, they created the set, costumes, props, and staging in Animal Crossing similarly to the way it would be created in real life. By using a capture card to record the scenes within the game, they are able to layer the newly recorded vocal and piano lines over the staging to produce the opera.

“Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a natural fit for the creation of an animated opera,” say Pellegrino and Bainton. “Thanks to the ease of use of the platform, and the fact that the game already has many props, outfits, and custom design features we can use to create our set, it was the perfect entry into creating a new type of virtual opera performance. We’re thankful to our artists and collaborators for their dedication to thinking outside the box and bringing Hansel and Gretel into the Animal Crossing world.”

Quotes from Vocalists:

Hannah Shanefield (Sandman, Dew Fairy) - “We’re particularly lucky to reunite for this project, as we all performed this opera together live in the winter. Now, we’re looking at our music making through a unique lens that, of course, has its difficulties, but offers us the opportunity to reconsider, and even redefine, what collaboration means. During difficult times like these, this creative approach is bringing us closer than we may have even felt in person.”

Caroline Nielson (Mother) - "This project represents musicians making the best of a difficult situation by using the powers of recording technology to bring opera to people's homes. I am proud to be singing with such a forward-looking and resilient company!"

Juan Suarez (Father) - “Having graduated in May, I appreciate the opportunity to continue to collaborate and create music with my peers, regardless of where we are in the world!”

Cast and Creative Team:

Celeste Pellegrino and Larisa Bainton, Directors

Larisa Bainton, Hansel

Celeste Pellegrino, Gretel

Hannah Shanefield, Sandman, Dew Fairy

Juan Suarez, Father

Caroline Nielson, Mother, Witch

Miles Fellenberg, Piano

About Due Donne Productions

Due Donne Productions was created by Celeste Pellegrino and Larisa Bainton, two recent Masters graduates from the New England Conservatory. Their mission is to bring opera to the greater Boston community through traveling productions, while also providing performance opportunities for budding opera singers. duedonneproductions.com

About New England Conservatory

New England Conservatory (NEC) is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools, educating and training musicians of all ages from around the world for over 150 years. With 800 music students representing more than 40 countries in the College, and 2,000 youth and adults who study in the Preparatory and Continuing Education divisions, NEC cultivates a diverse, dynamic community for students, providing them with performance opportunities and high-caliber training with internationally-esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC’s alumni, faculty and students touch nearly every aspect of musical life in the region; NEC is a major engine of the vital activity that makes Boston a musical and cultural capital. With the recent appointment of Andrea Kalyn to serve as NEC’s 17^th President, the Conservatory is poised to embark on a new chapter at the forefront of innovation in education and music. necmusic.edu

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