The Electronic Lover: Episode 5

The Electronic Lover, created by San Francisco Bay Area composer Lisa Mezzacappa and New York writer Beth Lisick, is an audio opera comprised of a nine-episode serial story set in 1980s chatrooms. The comedic drama features 14 vocalists, a synth-driven power trio, and special guests Del Sol Quartet and the Premier Ensemble of the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

The story is based on a 1985 article published in Ms. Magazine that described the thrilling, sordid dramas of an early online community created by a group of women techies who found a way to connect via the nascent chatroom community. Traversing many genres in the service of the storytelling, the music combines chamber art song with jazz improvisation, rock energy and experimental soundscapes. Operatic musical conventions converse with 1980s-era music technologies and pop culture references.

Berkeley, CA-based composer, improviser, bassist and producer Lisa Mezzacappa has been an active part of California’s vibrant music community for more than 20 years. Recent projects include Cosmicomics, a suite for electro- acoustic jazz sextet based on Italo’s Calvino’s stories about the origins of the cosmos; Organelle, a chamber work for improvisers grounded in scientific processes on micro and cosmic scales; Glorious Ravage, an evening-length song cycle for large ensemble and films drawn from the writings of Victorian lady adventurers; and Touch Bass, a collaboration with choreographer Risa Jaroslow for three dancers and three bassists. She is a recipient of the Pauline Oliveros New Genres Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), and has been commissioned by the San Francisco Girls Chorus and Del Sol Quartet.

Beth Lisick is a writer, actor and storytelling producer from the San Francisco Bay Area, currently living in New York. As an author, she has published six books including the New York Times best-selling comic memoir Everybody Into The Pool. Beth’s acting credits include a role on the Emmy-winning Amazon series Transparent and lead roles in numerous independent films screened at Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca and the San Francisco International Film Festival. She does voiceover work for museums, including the Smithsonian, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and SFMOMA.