Boston Conservatory at Berklee presents a fully staged production of Matthew Peterson and Jason Zencka’s Voir Dire, a true-crime opera with its finger on the pulse of 21st-century America.

The term “voir dire” comes from Old French: “voir” meaning speak, and “dire” meaning “truth.” Later adapted into legal terminology, it means “to speak the truth.” 

With music by Matthew Peterson and libretto by Jason Zencka, Voir Dire is adapted from various court cases witnessed by the librettist during his time as a crime reporter in hidden, small-town America. This chamber opera, conducted by guest Viswa Subbaraman(Opens in a new window) and directed by Associate Professor David Gately, takes place in a courtroom and plays out in a series of colorful and provocative vignettes that give audiences an insider’s look into the dark, uncomfortable, and often bizarre world of legal drama. Drug abuse, fractured families, economic precarity, and sexual violence collide with a justice system unequipped to account for the human element. 

Voir Dire is “startlingly immediate and journalistic, as gripping as a great feature story and made memorable by the depth and texture of the music,” says Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal.

for tickets and more information https://bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/events/voir-dire

Audience Advisory: Voir Dire addresses sensitive subject matter and is suited for mature audiences only.