Maestra Lacrymae

On The occasion of RendezVous Brussels, Sorry We're Closed invite you to the

a concert follow by a vinyl launch of Maestra Lacrymae by Anastasia Bay & Joseph Schiano
hosted by Klarafestiva

Saturday 12 September at 7pm
Avenue Van Volxem 311, 1190 Forest

Maestra Lacrymae

Anastasia Bay / Joseph Schiano di Lombo

Co-production: Sorry We're Closed × Speckled-Toshe
hosted by Klarafestival

Originally developed as the sonic counterpart to an exhibition by visual artist Anastasia Bay, Maestra Lacrymae is an opera conceived and directed by Bay and written and composed by multidisciplinary artist Joseph Schiano di Lombo. Originating in their 2024 collaboration at the Brussels gallery Sorry We're Closed, the work has evolved into an autonomous double vinyl edition. Rather than documenting the exhibition, the record expands its visual universe into an ambitious, specific operatic musical work.

Structured in five acts, the opera unfolds through five archetypal figures: Golem, Artemis, Dibutadès, Penelope and Gille-en-Elle. Performed through a single voice transformed across multiple identities, these characters draw on mythology, art history, carnival traditions and contemporary feminist thought. As a way of conveying Anastasia Bay’s eerie, multi-layered Baroque visual world, the composition brings together ancient poetic forms, opera, spoken word and electroacoustic treatments in a work that moves freely between music, theatre and visual art.

Maestra Lacrymae

Anastasia Bay / Joseph Schiano di Lombo

Co-production: Sorry We're Closed × Speckled-Toshe
hosted by Klarafestival

Originally developed as the sonic counterpart to an exhibition by visual artist Anastasia Bay, Maestra Lacrymae is an opera conceived and directed by Bay and written and composed by multidisciplinary artist Joseph Schiano di Lombo. Originating in their 2024 collaboration at the Brussels gallery Sorry We're Closed, the work has evolved into an autonomous double vinyl edition. Rather than documenting the exhibition, the record expands its visual universe into an ambitious, specific operatic musical work.

Structured in five acts, the opera unfolds through five archetypal figures: Golem, Artemis, Dibutadès, Penelope and Gille-en-Elle. Performed through a single voice transformed across multiple identities, these characters draw on mythology, art history, carnival traditions and contemporary feminist thought. As a way of conveying Anastasia Bay’s eerie, multi-layered Baroque visual world, the composition brings together ancient poetic forms, opera, spoken word and electroacoustic treatments in a work that moves freely between music, theatre and visual art.

Joseph Schiano di Lombo's musical composition and performance navigate masterfully between genres, delicately touching on electronic ritual, psych-folk songs, ethereal modern classical music, and haunting minimalism. The LP presents the complete opera as a listening experience while preserving its close relationship to the exhibition from which it emerged.

Designed by Quentin Lamouroux, the album captures the complexity of this crossover experiment by presenting a complete libretto of the opera in the form of an art object. Anastasia Bay has also produced a limited edition of 50 copies, each of which includes an original, signed, and numbered artwork.

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Anastasia Bay creates paintings that draw upon mythological and art historical sources, blending ancient figurative traditions with contemporary culture. A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the French, Brussels based artist’s work from the powers of theater and opera in order to channel the subversive forces of carnival, extending the realm of painting to the environment and the stage.

Joseph Schiano di Lombo is a French composer, visual artist, and author. Initially trained in piano and clarinet, he graduated from the École nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs de Paris. His unclassifiable music explores the boundaries between songwriting, experimental music, and modern composition. Often working in collaboration across disciplines, he composed for films, exhibitions, and fashion brands.

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Side A

Act I: La Golem

Acte II: Artémis, La Génitrice

Side B

Act III: Dibutadès, Juste-la-Fille-du-Père

Act IV : Pénélope la Hackeuse

Side C

Act V: Gille-en-Elle, l'Arlequine

Epilogue de Gille-en-Elle

Side D

Ouverture / Fermeture

Placement du public

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Double LP. 140 g black vinyl. Gatefold sleeve. Edition of 300.

50 special editions featuring an original artwork by Anastasia Bay

Catalogue number: SPT26-2. EAN: 7649988016547

Concept and artistic direction: Anastasia Bay.
Written and composed by Joseph Schiano di Lombo.
Performed by Joseph Schiano di Lombo.
Dramaturgy: Emilie Pischedda.
Produced by Sorry We're Closed.
Mixing: Merlin Modulaw.
Mastering and lacquer cut: Frédéric Alstadt (Mont Analogue).
Artwork: Anastasia Bay.
Graphic design: Quentin Lamouroux.
Co-production: Sorry We're Closed × Speckled-Toshe.

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