infinitesimal

"an extraordinary new step into chamber opera..."

"The intimate and dream-like sequences highlight universal experiences like love, death, belonging, and the search for meaning, making this oeuvre destined to touch hearts."

— Pure.Art Circle, Italy

"Infinitesimal is a moving, sensitively-crafted exploration of a subject that is uniquely relevant to everyone."

— Art Bath NYC

"amplifies the vital inter-connection between humans"

— Alexander Spögler, Paradiso Pure.Living

"Absolutely worth listening to, & shows all the colors of music and life."

"Delicate songs combine with brilliant music as listeners embark on a journey into themselves."

— Sabine Ricarda Schubart

"An extraordinary new step into chamber opera” (Pure.Art Circle, Italy), Infinitesimal explores life’s deepest mystery: the passage between life and death.Inspired by groundbreaking research on near death experiences, Infinitesimal follows the brain's final stages as observed in people who had been pronounced dead, but against all odds, were revived. The stages include a transformative review of one's life as well as encounters with lost loved ones. Such moments structure the opera’s narrative, immersing audiences in a journey that is both deeply personal and profoundly universal. Through the interwoven life experiences of its two lead performers, the opera unfolds as Jeremy Weiss (baritone/theater artist) and Nicole Brancato (composer/pianist) relive defining moments in their own lives — through love, loss, laughter, to resilience.Infinitesimal blurs the boundaries between science, memoir, theater, and music, transmuting chamber opera into an expansive sonic landscape, pushing the expressive limits to reimagine the singer-pianist duo.

At once cosmic and deeply human, Infinitesimal magnifies the vastness of the universe while celebrating the richness of our individual fleeting lives. It showcases queer and female voices through the shared experiences of its central characters and "amplifies the vital interconnection between humans" (Paradiso.Pure Living).Dancing at the threshold between our existence and what lies beyond it, Infinitesimal is directed by Kevin Newbury and composed by Nicole Brancato and Jeremy Weiss. The duo took their inspiration from this Richard Dawkins quote:"The chances of each of us coming into existence are infinitesimally small, and even though we shall all die someday, we should count ourselves fantastically lucky to get our decades in the sun."Infinitesimal is supported in part by The Puffin Foundation, Yamaha, Pure.Art Circle (Italy), and Paradiso Pure.Living (Italy).

Nicole Brancato

Nicole Brancato makes music to unlock wonder. Fascinated with contemporary expressions of our shared human experience, the NYC-based pianist merges curation, composition and performance in collaborations across the arts. Described as “brilliant” and an “immense talent” (New York Magazine and Connect Savannah), Nicole is “redefining the very notion of classical music” (Atención San Miguel). Her credits range from the Guggenheim Museum (NYC), Rai Italia, and the Banff Centre (Canada) to Lincoln Center, Bellas Artes (Mexico), HBO, and the “underground” performances in Brooklyn factories and warehouses.An awardee of the New York Foundation of the Arts (2024), IPaT/GTRI Research & Engagement Grant (2024), New York State Council on the Arts (2024), Pure.Art Circle Italy (2024), and National Sawdust’s Hildegard Commission (2022 Finalist), Nicole has curated more than 100 productions featuring 200+ compositions and commissions over the last decade. Described as a “piano virtuoso” (The Daily Gazette, Saratoga Springs), Nicole focuses on the kinetic energy exchange in performances — with both her collaborators and her audience. Such collaborations range from .soundfullness — a salvaged piano installation that transforms outdoor spaces into places of deep listening — to partnering with artist/author Sam Morris in “wait-list-only” performances at actor Alan Cumming’s NYC Club.A frequent guest presenter of workshops, master classes, and residencies, Nicole has delivered sessions for the Gesellschaftshaus Magdeburg, Germany; Lunigiana International Music Festival, Italy; for the Sphinx Organization; and for universities across the US. In 2022, she joined Seven Hills Chamber Music as Director and a distinguished Artist in Residence. She is a Yamaha Artist and a voting member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYS), and her music is registered with ASCAP. www.nicolebrancato.com

Kevin Newbury

KEVIN NEWBURY is an opera, theatre & film director.Career highlights: three PBS Great Performances Broadcasts: Bernstein’s MASS (Ravinia Festival), and the world premieres of Doubt (Minnesota Opera) & Bel Canto (Lyric Opera of Chicago); dozens of other world premieres including GRAMMY-Winner The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera,), Fellow Travelers (Cincinnati Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Prototype Festival, etc., NY Times: “BEST of 2016”), Castor & Patience (Cincinnati Opera, NY Times: “BEST of 2022”). Kansas City Choir Boy, starring Courtney Love (Prototype Festival & National Tour) The Righteous (Santa Fe Opera), The Good Swimmer (BAM Next Wave Festival) and Candy & Dorothy (GLAAD Media Award Winner: Best Play). Kevin’s work has been nominated four times for “Best World Premiere” at the International Opera Awards.Kevin’s long association with the work of Leonard Bernstein includes directing 6 productions of MASS (Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center Philadelphia Orchestra, etc), and Candide (starring Bradley Cooper & Carey Mulligan, Philadelphia Orchestra). Kevin has directed seven productions for the Prototype Festival in NYC, more than any other director.TV/Film credits include Apple TV’s Dickinson (“Split the Lark,” named one of the best episodes of 2021 by Entertainment Weekly), SOUL(SIGNS) : Making Music Visible (Upcoming : PBS), dozens of film festivals and awards and the Time Square Midnight Moment. Creative Director: Liz Phair’s 30th Anniversary Exile in Guyville Tour (2023). Co-Founder: Up Until Now Collective.
www.kevinnewbury.com

Jeremy Weiss

With a “heart wrenchingly beautiful” (Interludes) voice possessing an “indigo-tinged sensuousness” (Opera News), baritone Jeremy Weiss channels his training as an actor into his work as a musician, bringing human stories to life in performances that are radically open-hearted. His career spans two continents with recent credits including L’Opéra National de Paris, The Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, L’Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Metropole, and The Brooklyn Academy of Music. Upcoming house debuts include: Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, and Cincinnati Opera.Weiss is also on the forefront of developing “innovative, engrossing, and boundary-shattering” (Opera News) multidisciplinary projects that transform the way audiences connect with classical music. The Wandering — a queer, transmedia visual album and immersive audience experience — is based on Schubert’s lieder and it headlined the Innovation in Art Song Summit at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Jeremy was commissioned to write his first opera Infinitesimal during his residency with Pure.Art Circle (summer 2024), which he co-composed with Nicole Brancato. Infinitesimal is a genre-shattering chamber opera for voice, piano, and electronics that interweaves memoir with NYU researcher Sam Parnia’s cutting edge research on the experience of death to bring to light what connects us all.A vocal chameleon, Weiss has sung Schaunard in La Bohème, Orfeo in Belli’s Orfeo Dolente, Steve Jobs in Mason Bates’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, and Garibaldo in Handel’s Rodelinda. Also known for his work as a crossover artist, Weiss has performed the roles of Curly in Oklahoma!, Freddy in My Fair Lady, and the Wolf/Prince in Into the Woods. Jeremy was awarded third prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition in 2022, where he was also a prizewinner in 2019 and 2020. www.jeremyweissperformer.com