Our Voice Is Not at the End of Anything

Carmina Escobar

WORLD PREMIERE

Past event

Price: $25*
Genres: Music, Theater
Season: Winter/Spring 2026
DATE: FEB 20-22
TIME: FRI-SAT, 8 PM
SAT-SUN, 3 PM
RUNTIME: Approx. 90 minutes, with intermission
COUNTRY: USA
PROGRAM: Not yet available
Program: Download Program Notes (PDF)

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About

The Industry celebrates the return of its LAB series, in partnership with REDCAT, featuring new works in opera by renowned artists Guillermo E. Brown, Carmina Escobar, and Matana Roberts.

BUY A FESTIVAL PASS! SEE ALL 3 WORKS FOR $35!

Soaring vocal artist Carmina Escobar presents Our Voice Is Not at the End of Anything, a spiral-structured opera in gesture and sound whose staging reimagines voice as force, friction, and breath. Across the opera each turn of the spiral asks a question: What is a voice when it is not heard but held, when it resists power, when it becomes collective? Moving through war, grief, and renewal, the work explores the voice-body as an instrument of resistance and repair—a living echo that insists on art, connection, and survival at the edge of collapse. Featured artists in the live ensemble include band leader and conductor Yulissa Maqueos, directing her Maqueos Music Philharmonic Brass Band; composer and saxophonist Joe McPhee; trombonist David Dove; and stripper, sensual healer and actor Farrah Daoud.

On February 22, there will be a post-show Q&A with Guillermo E. Brown and Carmina Escobar, moderated by Tim Griffin, Artistic & Executive Director of The Industry.

Guillermo E. Brown and Carmina Escobar share a program.

Please note: This program contains flashing lights, loud sounds, and mature content.

LAB 2026 / Guillermo E. Brown / Matana Roberts

can make her voice sound like insects dancing on dry leaves or a rocket ship dying in space

—

Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times

LAB 2026 is made possible thanks to support from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Special support for Guillermo E. Brown’s The Instrument, Romance, Bee Boy is provided by SESAC; and for Carmina Escobar’s Our Voice is Not at the End of Anything by Abby Sher.

The Industry’s programming is also supported by Perenchio Foundation, The Audrey Slater Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Amphion Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund, New Music USA, and Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

about the artist

Carmina Escobar is a Los Angeles-based extreme vocalist, improviser, performer, and sound and intermedia artist whose work explores the boundaries of voice and sound to investigate emotions, politics, alienation, and human connection. Through performances, installations, and video/film works, she challenges conventions of musicality, gender, queerness, race, language, and communication. As an immigrant, her practice often examines suspended states between worlds, politics, and borders. She remains focused on creating thoughtful and boundary-pushing work while staying rooted in the exploratory and collaborative nature of her practice.

cast & creative team

Conceived, created, and performed by Carmina Escobar

Live performance

Conductor and Musical Director, Filarmonic Brass Band Maqueos Music: Yulissa Maqeuos

Featured Improvising Artist — Saxophone: Joe McPhee

Featured Improvising Artist — Trombone: David Dove

Stripper, Sensual Healer and Actor: Farrah Daoud

Visual Artist — Transitional Visuals and Titles: Carole Kim

Visual Artist - Costumer: Jamie Scholnick

Arranger (“Keep Your Eyes on the Prize”): Mauro José Hernández

Lighting Designer: Chu-Hsuan Chang

Amargosa Opera House Film