Evans chats with theatrical designer Vita Tzykun about her life, artistic upbringing, and creative process. Learn why Vita wants to break the barrier between scenic and costume design, what it’s like to work with Lady Gaga, and how her work—along with many artists’ work—has evolved in a time of social distancing.
Show notes
Tzykun designed the set for Cincinnati Opera’s world premiere of Fellow Travelers by Gregory Spears in 2016. That production was directed by Kevin Newberry.
Dramaturgy is the research involved to better understand a theatrical work before it is produced. While dramaturgy may be practiced by a professional dramaturg, often directors, designers, and performers participate in their own research to better inform their artistic decisions.
Tzykun designed a production of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise (Winter Journey, 1828), a set of German art songs for voice and piano. The singer in this production was baritone David Adam Moore, Tzykun’s partner. The two are set to record a film version of this production at Austin Opera in the coming weeks.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tzykun had designed the world premiere production of Edward Tulane at Minnesota Opera. Moore was performing in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at the Hungarian State Opera at this time. However, like many live performing arts, these productions were cancelled in order to promote social distancing and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Tzykun and Moore founded an New York City-based art collective called GLMMR.
Tzykun will design the set for Cincinnati Opera’s 2021 premiere of Castor and Patience.
Tzykun often reads Israeli author and “macro-historian” Yuval Noah Harari who wrote Sapiens, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.
Recently, Tzykun has watched the television miniseries Unorthodox on Netflix which revolves around a Hasidic Jewish community in New York City. She listens to the podcast Artificial Intelligence by Lex Fridman about the connections between technology and humanity.
Tzykun notes that the following non-Classical artists are influential to her: film composer Nina Rota, Brazilian folk artist Cesária Évora, American singer-songwriter Erykah Badu, American hip-hop artist Lauryn Hill, Swedish electronic group iamamiwhoami, Canadian pop artist Grimes, Icelandic art pop artist Björk, and Early Music composers Claudio Monteverdi, Hildegard von Bingen, and Johannes Ockeghem.