Sillons de Mémoires in full length is a collaborative work in four acts in co-creation with composer Dzovinar Mikirditsian, Eklekto and the Opernhaus Zürich. The opera refers to traces that inscribe themselves indelibly into bodies, biographies, and collective memories. At the heart of this music theatre performance are questions of home, migration, and displacement, as well as the fragility of memory and its simultaneous persistence. How vivid, how fleeting and ephemeral is memory? What happens when the memory of a place becomes fragmented, contested, or erased? How do experiences of war, crisis, and loss shape one’s self-image and one’s outlook on the future?
Récits of the Desert – Acts of Resistance is dedicated to forms of humanitarian, artistic, and political activism in the shadow of the borderlands between the United States and Mexico, particularly in the border regions south of San Diego. Katharina Rosenberger has been active in this area as both an artist and teacher at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) between 2008 and 2020. The work draws in particular on the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a project developed by the Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0 / b.a.n.g. lab, including collaborations with humanitarian initiatives such as Border Angels.
Premiere: 5–7 February 2026, Opernhaus Zürich – Studiobühne
Commissioned by the collectif Eklekto, co-produced with Opernhaus Zürich
This video documentation offers insights into selected sections of the work:
Prologue (2026)
Audio installation: Raphael Paciorek / Steven Whiting
Topographies (2025/2026)
Installation: Louis Delignon / Katharina Rosenberger
Récits of the Desert – Acts of Resistance (2025/2026)
Music theatre in one act for soprano, tenor, percussion quartet and turntables: Katharina Rosenberger
Recorded during the dress rehearsal on 4 February 2026 and the performances from 5–7 February 2026 at Opernhaus Zürich – Studiobühne.
Libretto (based on the Transborder Immigrant Tool Project)
Amy Sara Carroll (EDT 2.0) – poetry
Ricardo Dominguez – spoken text
Katharina Rosenberger – text (aria «Água comida roupas quentes»)
Cast – Opernhaus Zürich
Flavia – Flavia Stricker (soprano)
Sam – Samuel Wallace (tenor)
with Eklekto
Corentin Marillier – percussion, turntables
Anne Briset – percussion, turntables
Louis Delignon – percussion, turntables
Pascal Viglino – percussion, turntables
Choirs and extras
SoprAlti of Opernhaus Zürich
Zusatzchor of Opernhaus Zürich
Opernhaus Zürich Extras Association
Production team – Opernhaus Zürich
Steven Whiting – concept, direction and design
Ismael Gatti – chorus master
Raphael Paciorek – sound design and live electronics
Taina Bucheli – lighting design
Sarah Bigler – costume design
Jana Beckmann – dramaturgy
Sillons team
Nathalie Baranger – administration
Eva Marie Herbert – communications
Michelle Ettlin – video documentation
Leandro Gianini – additional audio mixing
Milutin Kostic – additional footage
We thank the Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0 / b.a.n.g. Lab – micha cárdenas, Amy Sara Carroll, Ricardo Dominguez, Elle Mehrmand and Brett Stalbaum – for permission to use the poems and audio recordings. More about the Transborder Immigrant Tool Project →
With sincere thanks to Ville de Genève, République et canton de Genève, Pro Helvetia, Fondation Oertli and Opernhaus Zürich.
«Se essa rua fosse minha» – traditional Brazilian children’s song (public domain)
A trailer presenting the complete production of Sillons de Mémoires is currently in preparation. A link will be added here soon.