In the year marking the official 100th anniversary of Cathy Berberian’s birth, a one-day symposium will celebrate the work of the American mezzo-soprano known as “the Callas of the Avant-Garde”.

With a view to exploring the particular crosscurrents between the performative languages that forged New Music Theatre in post-world war II Europe, we situate Berberian at the centre of pioneering vocal experimentation while always seeking wider considerations as to her place in these crosscurrents.

An iteration of the Embodied Monologues series (2017, 2022), the 2025 Embodied Monologues Symposium invites you to join a transdisciplinary laboratory posing the eclectic work of Cathy Berberian as a platform to pivot conversations about underrepresented performance practices and practitioners in New Music Theatre and other forms of staged vocal performance.

The event will significantly foster the overlap between contemporary opera and other experimental forms of theatre with/in music from the time, especially highlighting its legacies in the contemporary production and scholarly scene.