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The Invisible Instrument: Preserving Our Voice in a Digital Age

Presented by David Adam Moore

About the Lecture
The Invisible Instrument: Preserving Our Voice in a Digital Age explores the prehistory, evolution, and future of the singing voice. Drawing from his experience as a classical singer, voice researcher, and digital media artist, Moore makes a case for unamplified singing as one of the human body’s most exquisite capabilities—transcending mere music-making to serve as a vital connection to our humanity in an age increasingly defined by accelerating technology. The talk examines the biological and cultural evolution of the voice, the role it has played in the development of music and language, and the way in which vocal self-amplification techniques have been passed down through generations to form a living chain of knowledge that connects today’s Metropolitan Opera stars to our earliest ancestors calling across the savannah. These techniques have been vital for survival, fostering social bonds and transmitting emotional experiences across time and space. In the modern era, electronic amplification has given the voice unprecedented reach and creative potential, but it has also disconnected us from the unseen bond that is created between performer and listener as sound waves are physically transmitted from one body to another.

About David Adam Moore
Internationally recognized for his work as an operatic performer, director, digital media artist, and educator, David Adam Moore performs leading baritone roles for institutions including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Carnegie Hall, the Salzburg Festival, PBS, BBC, Arte TV, and Erato Records. Recent performances include a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Horatio in Brett Dean’s Hamlet, his Royal Opera Covent Garden debut as Col. Gomez in Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel, the international debut of his multimedia presentation of Schubert’s Winterreise at the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, and the title role in a new production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking for Hungarian State Opera, with scenic design taken from Moore’s documentary photographs of Angola prison. Alongside his artistic partner, director/designer Vita Tzykun, Moore is the artistic director of the NYC-based transmedia collective GLMMR, whose projects encompass a broad array of platforms including VR, immersive theater, large scale art installation, dance, and theatrical design. His work in stage direction, stage design, and installation/performance art has been presented by the Guggenheim Museum, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Diego Opera, Atlanta Opera, New Amsterdam Records, and National Sawdust. His projection design work has been featured in Lighting and Sound America Magazine, and his award-winning photography has been published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine and Boosey & Hawkes Music. A protégé of the influential voice pedagogue and author, Richard Miller (Structure of Singing, Training Tenor Voices), Moore served as Miller’s Principal Research Assistant at the Otto B. Schoepfle Vocal Arts Center at Oberlin Conservatory, where was honored as a McNair Scholar and National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences grant recipient. Moore currently serves on the faculty of the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, where he teaches Transmedia Storytelling and Voice, in addition to serving as Granada Artist-in-Residence and Visiting Professor at University of California – Davis. He has given lectures and masterclasses at Oberlin Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, University of Tel Aviv, Rice University Shepherd School of Music, San Diego State University, University of Texas, and Carnegie Hall’s Weill School of Music. He has served on the advisory boards of San Diego Opera’s Opera Hack and Austin Opera’s Innovation Council in collaboration with other thought leaders and technologists from major corporations and cultural institutions to find new paths forward from the intersection of historical arts and technology.

Saturday, January 11 — 3:30 PM

Visual Storytelling: A Universal Language

Presented by Vita Tzykun

In our increasingly interconnected world, visual storytelling emerges as a powerful tool that transcends cultural and linguistic barriers, weaving narratives that resonate across diverse audiences.

This talk delves into the art of visual communication, exploring how core elements such as color, composition, shape, pattern, and texture work in harmony to convey complex messages and evoke profound emotions. We’ll examine how these visual building blocks can be skillfully crafted to guide the viewer’s eye, set the mood, and impart meaning. From the bold, primary colors of a graphic novel that instantly convey energy and action, to the subtle interplay of light and shadow in a photograph that speaks volumes about human vulnerability, we’ll uncover the techniques that master visual storytellers use to ignite imagination and forge deep connections with their audience. By understanding these fundamental principles, creators can craft visual narratives that not only tell a story but also shape beliefs, influence decisions, and inspire action.

Often a double-edged sword, capable of being used for both benevolent and malevolent purposes, it has the potential to unite or divide, to enlighten or mislead, and to motivate individuals and societies to undertake monumental endeavors that can alter the course of history.

About Vita Tzykun
Creative director, designer, and visual artist, Vita Tzykun, has designed and directed productions for companies worldwide, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Bolshoi Theatre, Norwegian Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Tel Aviv Museum of Art. A proponent of new works, she has designed over a dozen world premieres to date. Film and tv credits include art direction for Lady Gaga, and production design for several award-winning films, music videos, and nationally-aired tv ads.

Vita and performer/media artist David Adam Moore are co-founders of the interdisciplinary art collective, GLMMR, that presents stage and multimedia works throughout the world. GLMMR was recently awarded a dual Granada Artist Residency and Visiting Professorship at University of California, Davis, where they created a new large-scale immersive theater installation, REFUGE, in response to Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. Due to the impact of REFUGE, Tzykun and Moore have been awarded a second dual Granada Artist Residency for 2025, for which they will create an immersive, mixed reality theatrical experience called “Taming The Lightning,” which will focus on climate resilience.

Known widely for her work in education and leadership, Tzykun serves on the faculty of the National Theater Institute and has lectured at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Mannes School of Music, and Carnegie Hall’s Weil Institute. Advisory roles include the National Endowment for the Arts, and tech-focused panels for San Diego Opera and Austin Opera.

Tzykun has been featured in Lighting and Sound America magazine, given a solo exhibition at the national Opera America center in NYC, and nominated for Designer of the Year by the International Opera Awards.

Her paintings have been exhibited at the Ceres Gallery in NYC and are held in private collections worldwide.