Misha Penton named Finalist for Best Artistic Director by Houston Press Theater Awards

When Divergence Vocal Theater diva Misha Penton performed Klytemnestra at the MFAH in June, she was able to have Anton von Maron's 1786 painting, The Return of Orestes, as a backdrop, a painting that captures a moment in the tragic family saga – a tale that's been told and re-told over centuries. There she was riffing on a theme that also intrigued artists for eons.

"My concept for the chamber opera is one of many tellings, with Klytemnestra at its center. Dominick DiOrio set my words to music, so our new version emerges from my words as the voice of Klytemnestra coupled with Dominick's powerful, intricate, psychologically charged music," says Penton. "The painting added yet another a rich layer to our performance and set our work within a broader historical context."

On June 10th, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston will host two performances of Klytemnestra, a chamber opera starring and conceived by soprano Misha Penton and scored by celebrated Houston-area composer/conductor Dominick DiOrio. Klytemnestra premiered in April 2011, selling out Houston’s Divergence Vocal Theater and drawing high praise from CultureMap Houston’s Joel Luks. As Ms. Penton described to me, Klytemnestra’s return to the stage is, “sleeker, redesigned, [and] semi-staged”, using the paintings of the Museum of Fine Arts’ Gallery 214 as backdrops for the production.

Misha Penton, soprano and artistic director of Divergence Vocal Theater, unearthed Isabella's story while ambling through the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston where the 1897 oil on canvass by American painter John White Alexander of Isabella and the Pot of Basil was on view. The tale of love-found, love-lost follows along subjects that have historically tickled the Divergence Diva and is now part of her upcoming collaborative vocal theatrical spectacle, Autumn Soireé, set for Friday and Saturday at Divergence Music & Arts at Spring Street Studios.

"Soprano and DVT's artistic director Misha Penton has achieved what many have difficulty doing: She has trademarked a signature aesthetic in partnership with the participating artists."

There is always something magical about opening night. Gents in fine tuxes, dames in modish gowns and sparkling jewels, exquisite cuisine and bubbly cocktails.

But at the Divergence Music and Arts grand opening bacchanal Saturday, the scene resembled nothing of the sort. From the sophisticated socialite to the indie chic, the over-capacity crowd lounged comfortably on velvety floor pillows, mismatched chairs, rockers and loungers, awaiting a musicale that captured the raison d'être of the avant-garde ensemble.

The new venue at the burgeoning Spring Street Studios is home to Divergence Vocal Theater, the brainchild of soprano Misha Penton... 

There is no other way to christen a new music venue than bombarding its walls with sounds, people and activities that exemplify the venue's raison d'être.

Divergence Music & Arts is Divergence Vocal Theater's new venue in the burgeoning Spring Street Studios in the Lower Washington Cultural Arts District, best described as an inspiring, non-traditional, funky, comfortable, lofty, garage-grungy warehouse studio space for chamber arts, specifically chamber music and chamber opera.

And leave it to DVT's artistic director and soprano Misha Penton to put together an assemblage of Houston's most sought-out classical musicians, from the classically trained to the indy-chic, to spank its reverberant space with a sample of what's to come. 

"Misha Penton rocked the role of the subversive female"

Some claim that classical music is dying. Yes, there is trouble out there...But if you attend one of power femme Misha Penton's performances, her collaborative approach tells a different story. Like the character she plays in Divergence Vocal Theater's (DVT) upcoming show Klytemnestra, with performances on Friday and Saturday. Penton is gaining a loyal following, kicking ass and taking names —but nicely. And she does not need a 501(c)(3) designation to do so. 

Houston based opera singer Misha Penton opens her unique performance space Divergence Music & Arts this Friday, April 15th. Located at Spring Street Studios, home to many of Houston’s finest visual and mixed media artists. Divergence Vocal Theater [brings] together Ms. Penton’s team of singers, musicians, composers, dancers, and lighting and costume designers to present new chamber opera repertoire. Klytemnestra, a collaborative opera dance theater work featuring music by composer Dominick DiOrio, sung text by Misha Penton, spoken text by John Harvey, and choreography by Meg Brooker, is receiving a great deal of positive press in advance of its premier April 15th and 16th at Divergence Music & Arts.

​Part of the Houston Press ongoing series profiling 100 Houston-area artists. No rankings; no order.

Misha Penton is an opera singer and theater artist, but she describes her performance group, Divergence Vocal Theater (which she formed in 2008), as "a little bit more like a rock band or a dance company than a traditional opera company." Drawn to both theater and contemporary opera, she creates original ensemble-based collaborative works that combine theater, dance and multimedia. The company will soon open a new performance space at Spring Street Studios. And this month, Divergence will premiere Klytemnestra, based on the Greek heroine and inspired by local playwright John Harvey's adaptation of Agamemnon.

At MFAH [Museum of Fine Arts Houston], Divergence Vocal Theater refined my weekend with a little "Frenchiness," the kind you should experience with a glass of bubbly (pinky up), rich bon-bons and those dresses that make your butt stick out. Juxtaposing poetry, dance and French music composed or arranged for voice and harp, soprano Misha Penton, harpist Joanna Elliott Whitsett, dancer Meg Booker and actress Miranda Herbert created a deliciously sensual ambiance of refined ecstasy.

Claude Debussy's harp transcription of "En Bateau" from Petite Suite was nothing short of sublime and multi-scensory in the presence of exquisite impressionist visual masterpieces. Misha Penton's interpretation of Reynaldo Hahn's Paysage showed her exquisite and succulent vocal range, technically and artistically.

Someone get me a fan. Is it getting hot in here? Good music should whisk you away and turn you on.

"Misha Penton… showed her exquisite and succulent vocal range, technically and artistically"

"[Misha] Penton sings the lion’s share of arias, lovely risings and fallings of nature poetry, with smoldering flair."

The collaborators are Misha’s dream team and secret weapon. The work began with poetry she wrote after seeing a sea lion off the rugged coast of British Columbia. This poetry became the libretto for the work, magnificently set to music by Elliot Cooper Cole. Scored for piano and cello (beautifully played by Jeremy Wood and Olive Chen, respectively) and two voices (Penton and fellow soprano Natasha Manley), Cole created an expressive soundscape that used impressionistic and Straussian “flavors” along with his signature haunting modal milieu. Cole is a writer of melodies, and there is no shortage of them in this work. At times the sound was so lush and full, I could hardly believe it was not played by a much larger ensemble. Dancer Meg Brooker provided elemental choreography for the ensemble, then flowed seamlessly into her own gravity-defying, swimmy/floaty presence...

Divergence Vocal Theater presented their third artistic collaboration and multi-inter-extra-disciplinary production this past weekend. Their performances defy description; even their self-proclaimed status as “Houston’s renegade, indie opera company” doesn’t do it justice. Artistic Director and Founder Misha Penton embraces her vision to let more and more of the experience evolve for her performers and her audience. The evening was a mix of contemporary vocal and instrumental music (harp, sitar, and piano), spoken word, modern dance, and stunning visuals created through lighting, film, and long diaphanous strips of colored fabric.

The fabrics, in warm oranges, taupes, and sages, stretched the length and breadth of the performing space, on the stage and in the audience; constantly changing, weaving, carried, carressed, abandoned by the performers. The entire evening, around the theme “Autumn Spectre,” was one of achingly beautiful sensory demand. The performance defied all traditional expectations of making sense, if you needed a story line, characters, conflict, or moral. However, sense was made in the way love is made, one delicious sensation at a time. Each person made their own sense. Even seated in the space, all were moved.

WOW! I’m always thrilled when a new opera company is born. Congratulations on your vision, audacity, perseverance, and confidence. I was at the performance and saw much to like: good musicality, commitment, beautiful young singers.

A lot of people are doing a lot of things to “save” opera these days – from staging brand-new world premieres the way Houston Grand Opera does almost every season to staging nothing but the oldest, most-proven seat-fillers like Carmen and La Boheme. This new Houston-based troupe led by singer-artistic director Misha Penton finds yet another way, mixing the musical form known as opera with modern dance, poetry and just about anything else that strikes their fancy.

“This past weekend was the second production from new indie performance company, Divergence Vocal Theater. The 10th Muse was a musical, theatrical, poetic meditation on love, heartbreak, and other such manipulations of Eros. Artistic director, Misha Penton, pulled from Berlioz, Gounod, and Boulanger (among others) for music. For text, she appropriated text from Sapho and also 4 poems from neoNuma poet, Jill Alexander Essbaum. Throw in some modern dance choreography by Toni Leago Valle, and you begin to get an idea of how fully packed a one-hour performance from DVT can be.

So I can’t really do a review of what I saw this past Saturday night. What I want to do instead is talk a bit about one artist’s evolution into a force for re-imaging opera for the 21st Century.

Misha has a history as a visual artist, a painter of abstract canvases that are all color and texture and mood and movement. This comes into play in her stage productions in that there is an arc to the evening, but not necessarily a story. She describes The Tenth Muse as a “watercolor collage” in her program notes and that’s certainly one way to experience the evening. It’s performance art as much as performing art. It’s juxtaposition of ancient and modern art, it’s a collection of thoughts on a theme, it is a collection of impressions intended to evoke feelings.

An evening with DVT, then, is a feast for the eyes and ears, with video projection, dancers, and highly trained voices and musicians. Mixing in spoken word fragments and poetry ups the intellectual involvement. It seems unlikely that someone would leave a performance without having seen or heard something that stimulated them on some level.

If this interdisciplinary approach to performance piques your interest in the least, I recommend you head over to DVT’s website and subscribe to their email list. There are sure to be new and exciting things developing in the months to come and you won’t want to miss out.”

“And- what a great show. You’ve created another powerful creative meditation- with music, voice, and dance and words. Really awesome. The poetry was blindingly beautiful…Thank you for being courageous enough to create these special experiences.”

“Misha Penton is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and performs primarily in Houston. Bored with the oh-so-conventional approach to classical music, she founded an opera company to bring her longing for boundary-defying, intense, non-traditional contemporary performances to life. Now, as Artistic Director of Divergence Vocal Theater…She has created something utterly new on the Houston music and arts scene: fearless, authentic, flawless fusion of old and new opera, dance, instrumental music, technology/multimedia, and literature.”

Misha Penton, has been percolating for several years on an idea to create unique performance experiences. She has studied, performed, traveled, written, and networked her little butt off. Next weekend, the result of her creativity is Divergence Vocal Theater’s premiere. Music old and new, dance, and literature combine to bring voices and people together in a way that is fresh and compelling. I can’t wait to see what the production, “The Ottavia Project,” will be like. Opera with an edge? Divergence Vocal Theatre is something fresh on Houston’s musical landscape.

There’s certainly nothing staid and boring about Houston’s cultural scene. No matter which way you turn you’re likely to fall over some sort of avant garde/cutting edge production or another.

Something I find intriguing, however, amongst all this “newness” is the strong presence of the “antique.” By that I mean art from Classical Antiquity that is blended with contemporary performance values.

Several groups around town have done this recently. Last weekend Divergence Vocal Theater, Houston’s newest “opera” company, made its debut with The Ottavia Project, Artistic Director Misha Penton’s telling of the story of Octavia, scorned wife of the Roman Emperor Nero, through a fusion of elements from Monteverdi’s opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea and the tragedy Octavia, often attributed to the 1st century C.E. Roman dramatist Seneca, with dance and music. The resulting spectacle was a satisfying melding of the old and the new very much in line with DVT’s stated vision.

What are we to make of this seeming trend back to ancient days? Perhaps no more than that the art of Classical Antiquity still has relevance today. The elements that make performances compelling today (inventive storytelling, compelling plots, human insight etc.) have been around for millenia and don’t lose their lustre with the passage time. Maybe also we should be reminded that not everyone in the first years of the 21st century has necessarily been exposed to earliest texts of the Western cultural tradition; there may be a huge “virgin” audience for these works many of us are very familiar with.

But while these recent productions may harken back to the mists of time, their treatments are thoroughly modern in keeping with Houston’s commitment to the cutting edge.”

Just because Claudio Monteverdi wrote his historic L’incoronazione di Poppea in 1642 doesn’t mean it’s a done deal. Not so in the hands of opera renegade Misha Penton, who launched her new multi-disciplinary endeavor, Divergence Vocal Theater, with The Ottavia Project this month at Barnevelder. She’s not kidding about the divergence part; her program note she welcomes the opera police to come drag her away in chains.
The Ottavia Project stems from Penton’s ongoing obsession with the character of Ottavia/Octavia. Fusing select arias from Monteverdi, text from Octavia attributed to Seneca, music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Jean-Phillippe Rameau, and choreography by Toni Leago Valle, Penton hones in on Ottavia’s inner turmoil and resulting choices. If you are familiar with Roman history, the Monteverdi opera, and Seneca, you will fare better in figuring out exactly what’s going on. If you are not, I wouldn’t be surprised if you put HBO’s Rome on your Netflicks queue. Penton, a natural troublemaker, is more interested in stirring up questions than providing a neat and tidy package.
That said, for a first outing, The Ottavia Project was quite a polished package. Shelley Auer, looking rather dashing dressed as a man, made a handsome and convincing Nerone. Kinga Skretkowicz-Ferguson evoked pure sensuality as the troubled Poppea. Penton jumped inside Ottavia’s character with authority, and Michael Walsh’s centered performance as Ottone added depth. A spare set, modern costumes, and lighting design by Kris Phelps cleverly adapted from Suchu Dance’s Impluvium, all contributed to the idea that we were not in operaland as usual.
The production’s musical director and pianist Stephen W. Jones delivered a stirring performance of Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor from Partita for Solo Violin no 2. Penton’s frequent collaborator Valle choreographed a stormy passage for the characters of Love, Virtue, and Fortune, danced with great finesse by Mechelle Fleming, Lindsey Magill, and Brittany Wallis. After an opening sequence where the dancers rest, quietly witnessing the mysterious proceedings, they bust loose in Valle’s complex and moving choreography. Ending on an abstract modern dance note felt about right.
If, in fact, the opera police did show, it seems they stayed for the reception and were last seen downing those tasty pomegranate mimosas. A wise choice.