Synchromy Presents: "Hysteria" - Molly Pease and Divya Maus

A rage-comic opera exploring women’s mental health through the lens of medicine, feminist fiction, reality TV, and the lives of the writers. A Synchromy and Resonance Collective Co-Production At the 1909 New York Symposium on Hysteria, the Neuroticist –a world-renowned psychoanalyst– presents four of his patients in a ground-breaking new lecture: Cherie, an unwed mother; Kate, a wife suffering from hallucinations; Ameeta, a mother anxious to marry off her adult son; and Mona, an architect struggling to appease her commissioners. Each is trapped in a scene that pushes her to ‘hysteria,’ a syndrome the Neuroticist aims to cure. However, a specter haunts his demonstrations, stoking the women’s fury and leading to a final confrontation—a contest of the gods, and the birthplace of our fury. Molly Pease (composer) Molly Pease is an LA-based vocal artist and composer whose singing has been described as “sonically mesmerizing” (LA Weekly) and her genre-defying compositions described as “achingly gorgeous” (New Classic LA). Her recent works include erde dreams for solo voice, electronics, and trio; Waterways and Dwellings, a collaboration with poet Molly Bendall written for chamber vocal and instrumental ensemble; and her album Inner Astronomy, which incorporates her father’s oceanic, bird-inspired poetry that focuses on struggles with depression and addiction. Her song “Transform” was recorded by vocalist Alicia Olatuja and was featured on the album Intuition: From the Minds of Women. Molly’s music has also been performed at Blue Note Tokyo, the Jazz Bakery, Monk Space, among others. Molly is currently working with librettist Divya Maus on a new opera exploring myths and truths about women called HYSTERIA, for which she was awarded Opera America’s 2025 Discovery Grant for Women Composers. As a performer, Molly has worked with Overtone Industries, theatre dybbuk, the Impulse New Music Festival, the Resonance Collective, and The Industry. She has also performed on the world premiere of Sidney Hopson’s Through the Looking Glass with Wild Up, Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians with the TAPS LA Music Festival, and Stockhausen’s Stimmung with HEX. Molly sang on GRAMMY Award-winning recordings with LA Master Chorale for Gabriela Ortiz' Revolución Diamantina in 2026, and with Tonality for Carla Patullo's So She Howls in 2025. She also appeared on Wild Up’s GRAMMY-nominated album, Julius Eastman Vol. 3: If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? Molly is a member and assistant director of experimental vocal sextet HEX, and regularly performs with LA Master Chorale, LA Choral Lab, and Tonality. She has performed with Björk, Tune-Yards, Sigur Rós, Dirty Projectors, and Kronos Quartet. Film and TV credits include vocals on Reminders of Him (2026), Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025), The Legend of Ochi (2025), Hulu’s Castle Rock (2019), and CBS’s Strange Angel (2019). Divya Maus (librettist) is a German-Indian award-winning musician whose work spans the spectrum of theatrical, contemporary, and choral music. Her pieces have been performed by renowned artists including Shoshana Bean, the cast of Nickelodeon’s Baby Shark’s Big Show, and mezzo-soprano Geeta Novotny, as well as award-winning ensembles including the L.A. Choral Lab and Colorado’s Ars Nova Singers. She has scored plays for the New York City Children's Theatre, Smith Street Stage, and scored the dance fantasia The Shadow for Los Angeles-based dance-theatre company Mixed eMotion Theatrix. The lead single ‘Salty Water’ from Divya's debut album BIGGER earned her a finalist placement in the Great American Song Contest and led to her opening for the Beach Boys in Los Angeles in 2014. Divya was an original cast member of Heather Christian's ORATORIO FOR LIVING THINGS (2022 off-Broadway), TERCE: A PRACTICAL BREVIARY (2024), and is a collaborator and musician on the epic immersive theatre trilogy un/tethered created and produced by interdisciplinary dance company Holdtight. This concert is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. The development of HYSTERIA received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.