In a theatre in the US capital, opera singers improvise while dancers and percussionists play instruments cast from melted handguns, rifles, semi-automatics and other firearms. "Most people, particularly like the queer community or the trans community or the non-binary community, live in daily fear of gun violence," says Stephanie Mercedes, a queer Latinx artist who began melting down weapons after the Orlando shooting in 2016, where 49 people were killed in an LGBTQ+ nightclub. Along with a cast of LGBTQ+ artists, Mercedes transformed various guns into instruments and sonic sculptures throughout the three acts of her opera "Never in Our Image". "It's like this weird, cathartic ritual moment where we're allowed to process things that have been in the back of our head, and in our hearts for so long," Mercedes says. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES