ICONS/IDOLS: IRENE First Listen: "Look On Me"

Icons/Idols: Irene

A first listen to the song "Look On Me" from ICONS/IDOLS: IRENE, a musical audio drama by the Byzantine Choral Project. Broadway World hailed the work as “gripping, emotional and eerily beautiful” when an excerpt was featured in a sound installation in NYC in May. “Grace Oberhofer has composed a truly fantastic acapella score. It has a gorgeous ability to evoke the sacred and the spooky all at once,” writes No Proscenium. Interludes raved, “It calls to mind the haunting compositions of the late Elizabeth Swados.”

Premiering September 22 with new episodes every Wednesdays, this new serial podcast tells unlikely story of a child bride who rises to the heart of Byzantine power. Harboring a treasonous secret that marks her as the enemy of her husband and son, Irene must finally choose her side in the iconoclastic wars. With a haunting score inspired by Byzantine chant and featuring the voices of ten women and non-binary performers, ICONS/IDOLS: IRENE is a sweeping story of ambition, sacrifice, and the struggle to make something new out of a shattered world.

Written by Helen Banner. Composed by Grace Oberhofer. Featuring Hilary Asare, Iris Beaumier, Isabella Dawis, Hannah Eakin, Julia Izumi, Grace Oberhofer, Lukas Papenfusscline, Shanta Parasuraman, Yael Shavitt and Kay Weber. Music Direction by Robert Frost. Audio Engineering by Nathan Leigh. Sound Design by Grace Oberhofer and Nathan Leigh. Featured Foley Artist Nicole Orabona. Produced by Emily Caffery. Learn more about the Byzantine Choral Project at www.byzantinechoralproject.com.

ICONS/IDOLS: IRENE was adapted from a stage play to a podcast in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its development has received support from OPERA America, New York Council on the Arts, The New Ohio/IRT Archive Residency, The Tank, and New Georges. An excerpt of ICONS/IDOLS: IRENE was shared with live audiences at New Ohio Theatre in May 2021 in the immersive sound installation ICONS/IDOLS: IN THE PURPLE ROOM.