MŌDRANIHT. Songs of winter war

On the evening of December 21, Europe marks Mōdraniht—the "Mothers' Night" of Northern mythology and the longest night of the year. In mountain villages, residents perform ritual dances to ward off evil forces from their homes and welcome the Sun, reborn anew each year.

Songs of Winter War is a journey across times, wars, geographies, shattered bodies, and landscapes. It is an essay in the form of rhizomatic theatre, an "opera practica," and a requiem for the micro-history of the human voice amidst global history.

The opera project began in 2024 in the form of Winterreise—a series of expeditions spanning the Ukrainian Carpathians and Central Asia, the tragedy of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan, and the phenomenon of La Vijanera, a winter carnival in the mountains of northern Spain. This opera marks the final installment of the "ecological trilogy" by Opera Aperta, which began with the archaeological opera Chornobyldorf (2020) and GAIA-24. Opera del Mondo (2023–2024). All these works are linked by themes of environmental disasters caused by the totalitarian regimes of the USSR (Chernobyl and the Aral Sea) and the Russian Federation (the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam).

Created within the stage spaces of Ukrainian landscapes (the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Khortytsia Island) and iconic Kyiv architecture (Mystetskyi Arsenal, Khanenko Museum, Vernadsky National Library), Opera Aperta productions have been presented at leading festivals in Europe and America (Rotterdam, Vienna, Venice, New York). They have received numerous awards for excellence in modern musical theatre (Music Theater Now Award, Classical Next Innovation Award, Royal Philharmonic Society Award).

The world premiere will take place in Kyiv during the first edition of the KЇ FEST (Kyiv) International Festival of Theatre and Performative Arts on May 10, 2026, followed by performances in Rotterdam (Rotterdam Operadagen) and Vienna (Wiener Festwochen).