An encounter with famous Austrian pioneers of modern music beckons for the young participants. Das Lied von der Erde is perhaps Gustav Mahler‘s most personal composition: ‘Der Abschied’ not only deals with life and death, but also marks an Abschied (farewell) in musical terms, as the writing departs from established compositional norms. Mahler’s younger admirer and friend Arnold Schoenberg composed Erwartung, in which he depicts a woman’s anxious search for her beloved. With this early venture into free atonality, Schoenberg expresses intense emotions through a powerful musical language. The participants in the opera camp will work on creating a performance shaped by their thematic and musical exploration of both works and their creators.