The feminine has been at the heart of all great myths. Growing up in Singapore, Cheryl Bains had heard them all. “Two things have been important to me in my life; stories and music,” the 25-year-old reveals. On Friday, she will bring to stage a union of these two forms in a complex, lavish opera titled The Legend of the Goddess: Vedic Tales meet Opera.

Hosted by The Royal Opera House Theatre Mumbai and Avid Learning, it will be the Mumbai premiere of Bains’ production. “This will be our first week of rehearsing,” shares the composer, who will be joined by Nadine Crasto (piano), Gino Banks (percussion), Zubin Behramkamdin (first violin), Daniel Dias (second violin), Dielle Braganza (viola) and Leo Velho (cello) on stage. A trained opera singer from the Manhattan School of Music, and having performed in operas such as Don Giovanni and The Sound of Music, the composer was drawn to myths of Ganga, Durga, and Lord Shiva that she grew up with in Singapore.