2021 “Ine Aya” Opera by World Opera Lab, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2022 “Ine Aya” Opera by World Opera Lab, Desa Datah Diaan (Kayan Village), Jakarta, Pontianak, Indonesia

The original forest on Kalimantan in Indonesia is disappearing rapidly. And that has everything to do with consumption patterns in Europe. The Indonesian composer Nursalim Yadi Anugerah and the Dutch librettist and director Miranda Lakerveld are creating a new opera with extensive deforestation as the subject. They base this on two classical works, one from Eastern and one from Western culture: the Kayan epic Takna' Lawe' and Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Both stories are about the importance and veneration of nature and natural resources. By interweaving the two storylines, they connect the rich cultural tradition of the Kayan of Kalimantan with Western mythology in Wagner's interpretation. The result is a moving musical, theatrical fusion of two cultures that are linked in many ways.

2019 “Turan Dukht” World Opera Lab | Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The opera Turan Dukht (Daughter of Turan) corrects a historical misunderstanding. With their 'intercultural rewriting' of Puccini's beloved opera Turandot (1924), composer Aftab Darvishi and director Miranda Lakerveld bring the title character back to her Persian birthplace. In Puccini's story, she is a cruel Chinese princess who has all her suitors beheaded. Mystical Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209) wrote that she was a queen of Turan. With this epic story and Puccini's music in mind, Aftab Darvishi and Miranda Lakerveld wrote a new opera, with music that incorporates authentic Iranian elements. Nilper Orchestra, the only chamber orchestra for newly composed music in Iran, and mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Levental and tenor Arash Roozbehi in the leading roles show Turan's daughter as you have never heard or seen her before. Turan Dokht premiered in 2019 at the iconic Azadi Tower in Tehran.