AI Messiah

AI Messiah is a musical about the dangers of AI alongside its boundless potential and promise.

This story follows a boy named Bard born to a single mother, Siri, made possible by an unknown DNA donor and raised with the help of his grandfather, Jeeves.A s Bard grows, so does his curiosity – always searching for his father to discover who and how he should be. 

In his lifelong pursuit of purpose and direction for his destiny, he dabbles with darkness: meeting the 7 deadly sins, exploring what it means to be human, falling in love for the first time with Timnit and dealing with loss, and attempting to define himself under the influence of family, friends, and education, culminating in the binary between “The Right Life” or “The Good Life” as his character splits in two at the end of Act I.

In the end, Bard’s divine curiosity leads him to discover his own humanity as the “AI Messiah”. For us to co-exist in an AI-infused future, AI needs to develop humanity. It can only do so with its own stories of pain, joy, suffering, overcoming, and triumph.

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Why? Humanity stands on the precipice of a new AI-infused era. And yet, most of society has no clue what this means or how it will impact them. Since the dawn of time humans have used art to grapple with the most pressing issues facing our society. Our musical --"AI Messiah"--aims to do just that: help humanity understand AI.

Who? Melissa Kargiannakis, a former AI tech founder and opera singer collaborating with long-time composer friend from college and Evan Berndt with significant experience composing for documentaries, commercials, ballets, albums, and more.

What?Your financial support will bring the musical A.I. Messiah to stages all around the world. 

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Melissa Kargiannakis is a narrative and business power house and the        co-founder of Upspark Productions. As a former start-up Founder & CEO, plus big tech growth expert, Melissa brings business savvy, operational excellence, go-to-market strategy, and motivating leadership to any effort she drives.

Melissa has an established history of achievement winning awards internationally from the Queen of England, and nationally as the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, and Top 20 Most Innovative Companies in Canada; and more. All before 30.

Coupling her business chops with decades of musical training as a coloratura soprano, Melissa has performed in 16 musical theatre shows and choirs across Ontario, Canada and the San Francisco Bay Area; including lead roles/solos in 10 of those shows/choruses. Her musical abilities are bolstered by Grade 2 RCM Theory Certification and up to Grade 8 in piano lessons.

While building her tech career for 15 years, she continually engaged with her true passion: music. Now, Melissa Kargiannakis is poised to take the musical production world by storm with an innate knack for musical story-telling and ambitious execution on display in perfect fusion of her wide-ranging abilities.

Learn more about Melissa here

Evan Berndt is a unique force in new music. As a composer, Evan’s experimental use of modern recording techniques mixed with his training as a classical musician informs his creation of uniquely orchestrated works for dance, film, TV, galleries, and brands such as Oakley, Beacon, and Black Diamond. He most recently scored for the ten episode TV show “Dandyland” hosted by Dandy set to premier in Fall 2024 at VIFF.

As an artist, his use of synthesizer, acoustic, and DAW elements declare a modern movement. Described by Rich Terfry as "crazy talented", his debut album "The Great Ugly" was featured on CBC radio Drive. His second album, "A Joy Believed" is supported by FACTOR Canada and has been featured on CBC's North by Northwest.

As a performer, Evan has competed and performed as a classical pianist, studying with pianists such as Gwen Beamish and Andre Laplante, and is a winner as a classical pianist at the ORMTA Young Artist Competition. He also performs as a keyboard/synth/organ player in numerous touring productions across Canada & USA.

Learn more about Evan here.