Helsinki Skaala Opera’s Turing Machine weaves together soaring, emotionally charged vocal lines with atmospheric ambient soundscapes and sampled electronic rhythms. The intimate and intense opera for two singers and one dancer is set off by stunning 3D graphics – a visual element ultimately based on the innovations of Alan Turing himself.

Turing Machine is a new multimedia opera composed by Eeppi Ursin and Visa Oscar. Alan Turing (1912–1954) was a British mathematician and computer science pioneer whose contribution to breaking the German Enigma cipher helped turn the course of World War II.

Though he spent his life at the forefront of technological innovation, Turing’s true goal was the scientific understanding of the mind. He was also a modest and unpretentious man trying to live in a society that criminalized his sexual orientation, ultimately driving him to suicide. Turing’s death in 1954 remains one of the many enigmas in an astonishing life story.

Libretto: Taina Seitovirta, based on the play Turing by Mika Jaakkola and Jussi Lehtonen
Composers: Eeppi Ursin and Visa Oscar
Director: Janne Lehmusvuo
Choreography (2009 reprise): Thomas Freundlich, based on original material by Antti Nieminen (2008)
Digital graphics and projections: Merja Nieminen
Lighting design: Harri Peltonen
Sound engineering: Santtu Sipilä
Costumes: Tyra Therman
Makeup: Kukka Silius
 
Performers (2009 touring production):

Alan Turing - Juha Hostikka, tenor
John, Chris, Joan, Arnold, narrator - Mia Heikkinen, soprano
Thomas Freundlich, dancer

Euppi Ursin, vocals and vocoder
Visa Oscar, programming and keyboards

Premiere March 28th, 2008 at Korjaamo, Helsinki
Premiere realized in collaboration with Crucible Studio, UIAH Helsinki

Duration: 60 minutes

Photos courtesy NOA festival, Vilnius, Lithuania 2009