2020 (as it was)

Mr. Granner had a full season of singing from west to east coast and was the Director of Marketing at Long Beach Opera. But with the pandemic cancellations, Nathan began producing (again) and formally started a new production company,

A Lab Studios.

A Lab Studios' most recent offering ("Hot Shots: a Covid Vaccine Story based on Rossini's Otello") is a music video to bring vaccine awareness to the Black Community has been selected for two film awards from Big Bear Film Festival and the Los Angeles Music Video Awards. In addition, he and his wife Jamie Chamberlin (soprano) produced two seasons of "Sing Out Loud," an opera web series geared for children from 7-12yrs old, as well as a full production of "The Telephone" by Gian Carlo Menotti and multiple live and recorded videos released for numerous companies.

On the back of this work, plus a delightful new drive-in Cosi Fan Tutte with Pacific Opera Project on the tail-end of the year, Nathan was invited to sing in two new major upcoming films, turning 2020-2021 into something pretty remarkable.

2021-2022

Sees Nathan in two leading principal film roles, making company debuts with Portland Opera and Fort Worth Opera, returning to Opera Santa Barbara and concertizing in Minneappolis/ St. Paul with Philip Brunelle's group, VocalEssence.

"Everest" | Feature Film by Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer | Opera Parallele

an intensely gripping animated feature film currently released on The Dallas Opera Network. Everest is an animated graphic novel turned into a film. In this complex process, hand drawn illustrations by Mark Simmons are digitized and animated by artist David Murakami using a fusion of the illustrations and motion capture video of the artists' performances. Joby Talbot, the composer, realized the musical score in his own studio, recording the instruments using midi and live sound. The vocals were recorded at Skylight Sound in Oakland, CA.

"Goodbye Mr. Chips" | Feature Film by Gordon Getty | premiere screening Nov.14, 2021

a live action feature was recorded and filmed May-August and is currently in post production. Based on James Hilton’s classic novella, composer Gordon Getty’s opera Goodbye, Mr. Chips tells of the life of beloved English schoolmaster Mr. Chipping, known to his students and others as “Mr. Chips.”

"The Central Park Five" | Portland Opera | performances March 18-26, 2022

Winner of the Pulitzer Price for Music in 2020, The Central Park Five takes us to New York City in the late 80s—when five Black and Latino teenagers were falsely accused of rape and assault, and coerced into confession, during a terrible incident that gripped the nation, and still strikes our hearts.

"La Traviata" | Fort Worth Opera | performances April 22 & 24, 2022

75th Anniversary! From the mind of brilliant young director, choreographer, and opera librettist John de los Santos (FWO’s María de Buenos Aires, The Pearl Fishers, The Mikado, Frontiers ad more), this emotionally gripping, ninety-minute chamber realization of the opera is reimagined through a contemporary lens with a unique sculptural aesthetic courtesy of illustrious set designer and sculptor Liliana Duque Piñeiro and wildly inventive visual artist and costume designer, Ashley Soliman.

"Satan's Fall" | VocalEssence, Minneapolis, MN | performance May 8, 2022

The VocalEssence Chorus and Ensemble Singers tell the story of creation through the voices of composers across time and cultures, culminating in the regional premiere of “Satan’s Fall,” a new composition by Stewart Copeland, drummer for British hitmakers The Police. Fell the driving rhythm of the voices in this oratorio inspired by John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost” at Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

"La Traviata" | Opera Santa Barbara | performances June 10 & 12, 2022

Set in a time of speakeasies and extravagance, Verdi’s most popular and intimate opera is transported to the Roaring 1920s. At the center of the glitz and glamour is one of opera’s foremost leading ladies, Violetta Valéry. Known for her legendary parties, the famous courtesan is accustomed to the affection of others, but the young and passionate Alfredo stirs new emotions and a desire to be truly loved. Will Violetta risk it all for this new love?

New Events and appearances happening all the time. For booking inquiries contact info@alabstudios.com

Sing Out Loud!

SO much fun