Special Projects
In addition to her work as a performer, Shannon is a passionate recitalist, filmmaker, and creative producer. Her work blends film, theater, and classical music to add depth and context to the music she performs. The following projects are either in development or are actively touring.
Lived and Loved
This film is the first installment of Five Feminine Tragedies — a cinematic exploration of archetypal women in classical vocal music.
Lived and Loved offers a contemporary reimagining of Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben (“A Woman’s Life and Love”), a song cycle in which the unnamed female narrator exists primarily to idealize her beloved husband. In this retelling, the focus shifts back to Frau herself — her perspective, her voice, and the unvarnished truths of her experience. The film is designed to be screened in sync with a live performance of the song cycle, with visuals precisely cut to the timing and emotional arc of the music.
Homeland
Homeland is an intimate journey through the layered experience of growing up as a first-generation American. Through Alan Smith’s Vignettes from Ellis Island, interwoven with firsthand accounts of Jewish immigrants from Iran and personal reflections, the program gives voice to the hopes, sacrifices, and contradictions that shape the immigrant experience. With a deep sense of heritage and artistry, the recital explores what it truly means to seek — and redefine — the American dream. Homeland is not just a musical performance, but a storytelling experience that honors resilience, memory, and identity.
La Dame de Monte Carlo
La Dame de Monte Carlo is the second installment in Five Feminine Tragedies, a multidisciplinary exploration of archetypal women in classical vocal music. Inspired by Francis Poulenc’s haunting monodrama and the evocative text of Jean Cocteau, this piece traces the final, feverish night of a woman teetering on the edge — gambling not just money, but her very life. Part film, part live performance, La Dame de Monte Carlo can be experienced as a cinematic art piece or as a striking visual counterpart to a live rendition of Poulenc’s work. Blurring the lines between opera, film, and psychological portrait, it invites audiences into a surreal, emotionally charged descent of a woman forced to the edge.