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True stories from the lives of Utahns provided rich fodder for opera, as an unusual collaboration of Salt Lake City artists demonstrated Tuesday night. "Operas From the Hive" brought together storytellers from The Bee, composers from the Salty Cricket Composers Collective, singers from Utah Opera, two local bands and a handful of filmmakers and animators to create five short operas, which had their first public screening at downtown Salt Lake City's Club at 50 West.

All but a handful of the multigenerational crowd had some previous experience with opera, based on a show of hands at the outset. The one live performance of the evening — Steve Sternfeld's droll account of an awkward Passover Seder, sung and acted masterfully by baritone Markel Reed — received particularly enthusiastic applause, a testament to the power of live opera.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the evening was the diversity of subject matter, visual treatment and musical styles. Contemporary chamber music, jazz and melodic doom metal all served the stories well. The video component — created by artists who, in most cases, didn't even meet their musical and dramatic collaborators until Tuesday night — was similarly wide-ranging.

Filmmakers from Spy Hop dramatized Brian Higgins' paranormal tale "The Selection Procedure" by intercutting footage of actors, with Reed singing in voiceover, and on-screen narration from Higgins himself. The Rosco String Quartet performed Devin Maxwell's evocative score.

Tawna Duncan's hand-drawn animation was an ideal match for "Dirt," an impressionistic retelling of Celeste Chaney's whimsically scandalous story. Soprano Jessica Jones and the jazz band JRANK captured the mood with wry panache.

Ori Media took an imaginative approach to Ashley Sanders' "My Daughter the Furies," using an actress representing Sanders as the canvas. With sympathetic accompaniment from a quartet of wind and string instruments, mezzo Sarah Coit sang Margot Glassett Murdoch's music with a mixture of humor and poignancy.

Another chamber ensemble accompanied Reed's live performance of Sternfeld's "On All Other Nights," with composer Aaron J. Kirschner conducting. The baritone delighted the crowd with his musical and dramatic expression, and he landed the story's punchline like an Olympic gymnast.

Perhaps the most compelling musical treatment of the evening was the doom-metal band Turned to Stone's adaptation of Austin Stephenson's "Found Awakening." Tenor Christian Sanders' delivery of Stephenson's text, which took a journey from contentment to deep despair to elation, was a knockout. Animation from Impatient Cow Productions moved smoothly from abstract to specific, ending the night on an upbeat note.

If you weren't lucky enough to score tickets to Tuesday's event, which sold out in less than 48 hours, don't worry — the project will be available for viewing on YouTube in the next couple of weeks. —

A night at the opera

Utah Opera, The Bee and the Salty Cricket Composers Collective presented the premiere of "Operas From the Hive," five short operas created in a multidisciplinary community collaboration.

When • Tuesday, May 17

Where • Club at 50 West, Salt Lake City

Stay tuned • The opera company will share the videos on YouTube in the next couple of weeks.