The Machine Stops is a futuristic opera for our time. 

In this future, AI-based computer networks control 

the people of the world (physically and via social media), 

but also provide their daily needs--an all-too-possible 

dystopian vision.

At the start, we meet a young non-conformist, Kuno, who 

joins with a new friend, Em, to explore beyond the 

boundaries of their enclosed world. What they discover 

reaffirms humanity, as the story interleaves love, 

tenderness, humor, and the brutality of mechanistic 

control and social media animus. The kaleidoscopic 

music and epochal themes resonate with listeners. 

The video below was recorded from an excerpted 

reading on November 20th, 2025  at the

National Opera Center, NY.