The U. of South Carolina Luise E. Peake Music & Culture Colloquium Series presents its Fall 2024 Experimental Music Workshop concert at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 7, USC School of Music Recital Hall. The concert features musical-theatrical works by the American composer Robert Ashley. Directed by Greg Stuart, the workshop will present two episodes from “Perfect Lives” (1983), Ashley’s groundbreaking television opera. Set in a small Midwest town, this quirky, philosophical work follows two traveling musicians and two siblings as they attempt the “perfect crime” by briefly taking — and then returning — all the money from a local bank. Treating everyday speech as song, Ashley blends spoken word and music in a way that redefines opera.