To celebrate the 10th anniversary of this unique musical there will be a special one-night-only performance at Subculture on May 26. Featuring the original star, Michael Winther and Kimberly Grigsby on the piano, Peter Sachon on cello and Shane Shanahan on percussion. It promises to be a special night and will sell out quickly, so we recommend buying tickets in advance (click here.)
You can read more about the piece here.
Kevin Puts’ and Mark Campbell’s opera on The Manchurian Candidate will premiere at Minnesota Opera this March. Based on the novel by Richard Condon (which was subsequently made into two film versions) the opera is the second for Puts and Campbell, whose first opera Silent Night won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 and has gone on to a successful life in repeat productions by several companies in the U.S. and Europe. For additional information and some sneak preview audio clips, please click here.
View some of the sing-through:
Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell discuss the evolution of the opera:
The Whole Truth is a short comic opera with music by Robert Paterson and a libretto by Mark Campbell (Bastianello & Lucrezia), based on a short story by author Stephen McCauley. A married women attempts to delude herself into thinking she can carry on two affairs at the same time. The first with a fellow dentist and the new affair with a young carpenter who has come to work on her and her husband’s home.
“The Whole Truth is like Opera Espresso: short, concentrated, and energizing.”–DC Metro Theater Arts
Performances are at Atlas Performing Arts Center (in the heart of DC’s vibrant and eclectic H Street neighborhood) and produced by UrbanArias.
Starring Amedee Royer, Kate Jackman, Andrew McLaughlin and Jeffrey Gates
Accompanied by R. Timothy McReynolds (piano)
Directed by Courtney Kalbacker
The Lyric Opera of Kansas City is the seventh company to produce the Pulitzer Prize winning opera Silent Night, with 4 performances on Feb. 21 through March 1.
Read the Kansas City Star’s piece about the opera
The next company to produce Silent Night will be Opera de Montreal in May of 2015.
With music and concept by Laura Kaminsky, libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, the opera As One was given its premiere by American Opera Projects at the BAM Fisher Theater in September of 2014. The production featured a film by Kimberly Reed, and was universally praised for its honesty and originality.
A rich addition to the repertoire … formidable on all fronts … As One is everything that we hope for in contemporary opera: topical, poignant, daring, and beautifully written.”
– New York Classical Review
“Artistically distinguished, socially important … says so much with relatively modest means.”
– WQXR
As One, … satisfies in an entertaining and delicately moving way.”
– New York Observer
A piece that haunts and challenges its audience with questions about identity, authenticity, compassion and the human desire for self-love and peace.”
– Opera News
As One forces you to think, simultaneously challenging preconceptions and inspiring empathy…[with] winning humor and a satisfying emotional arc.”
– The New York Times
“Perfect Boy” from As One [excerpt] from American Opera Projects on Vimeo.
Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone, String Quartet (requires a conductor, who plays a small role in the piece).
Order the CD
For additional information, visit the AS ONE website here.
To obtain a quote on licensing As One for performance, please fill out a request here.
Opera News Interview with Laura Kaminsky on Premiere of Musical Opera As One
Kaminsky One of Eight Recipients of Opera America’s Grant for Female Composers
“A Christmas Story” [excerpt] from As One from American Opera Projects on Vimeo.
“Out of Nowhere” [excerpt] from As one from American Opera Projects on Vimeo.
“As One” is the hottest title in opera right now, at least among the titles written in the last 100 years. The musical tale of a transgender woman’s personal evolution is somehow right on time–an accomplished bit of art-making, with considerable entertainment value, that thrusts itself smack into the current political and social discourse.
It’s in Denver this week week. Pittsburgh last. Seattle produced it in November and folks in New Orleans and Los Angeles get to hear it this spring. The chamber piece, which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in late 2014, has a rare vitality in a business where new works–including the good ones–have to fight for even a second show.
Opera companies love it. One reason is that it’s relatively inexpensive to present: no chorus, orchestra or big sets. Composer Laura Kaminsky’s creation has just two singers, a string quartet and a couple of temporary screens that show films in the background.
But that’s why audiences seem to like it, too. It’s intimate. All the complaints so frequently lodged against the art form–that it can be distant, formal and out-of-touch, aren’t a factor for “As One.” Nor is length; it clocks in at just 75 minutes.
December 19, 2014 – Excellence in Opera (“Freddie”) Award
Operavore
December 18, 2014 – Slate
The Uses of “Trans” in Art
October 2, 2014 – GAY CITY NEWS
Opera review: “New Starts”
September 11, 2014 – OUT MAGAZINE
Opera review: “A Transgender Woman’s Operatic Path to Self-Acceptance”
September 10, 2014 – NY OBSERVER
Opera review: “An Emotional Before-and-After Opera of Gender Transformation Premieres at BAM”
September 9, 2014 – Q ON STAGE
Opera review: “Magnificent ‘As One'”
September 9, 2014 – THE FILM EXPERIENCE
Opera review: “Stage Door: ‘As One’ by Kimberly Reed”
September 2014 – OPERA NEWS
Opera review: “As One BROOKLYN American Opera Projects”
September 5, 2014 – THE NEW YORK TIMES
Opera review: “The Arc of a Transgender Life”
September 5, 2014 – NEW YORK CLASSICAL REVIEW
Opera review: “Kaminsky’s transgender opera “As One” makes a poignant and remarkable premiere”
September 5, 2014 – WQXR: OPERAVORE
Opera review: “Opera As One Explores Gender Change, Identity Struggles”
September 5, 2014 – PARTERRE.COM
Opera review: “outskirts”
September 4, 2014 – WWFM: CADENZA
Opera profile: “As One”
September 4, 2014 – HUFFINGTON POST
Opera profile: “‘As One’ Opera Brings Husband And Wife Stars Together For Heartfelt Transgender Role”
September 3, 2014 – GAY CITY NEWS
Opera profile: “The Voyage to Oneness”
September 2, 2014 – BK LIVE
Opera profile: Video Interview: “As One”
September 2, 2014 – BROOKLYN DAILY
Opera profile: “Husband and wife share role of transgender woman in new opera”
September 2014 – OPERA NEWS
Composer/Opera profile: “Hearing Both Sides”
Fall 2014 – OPERA AMERICA MAGAZINE
Composer/Opera profile: “Are Women Different?”
July 17, 2014 – THE ADVOCATE
Opera profile: “Husband and Wife to Share Role in Trans Opera”
July 10, 2014 – WQXR: OPERAVORE
Opera profile: “What to Hear in NYC Opera and Vocal Music”
Wexford Festival Opera will present the European premiere of Kevin Puts’ and Mark Campbell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night, about the spontaneous Christmas truce between enemy combatants during the First World War. More details online at http://www.wexfordopera.com
Believing that the creation of art should mark every special occasion, OPERA America commissioned the OPERA America Songbook in celebration of the opening of the National Opera Center in September 2012. Composers with strong ties to the organization were invited to write a song for voice and piano on the theme of opening a new home, the joy of singing or the excitement of new beginnings. This collection of songs represents the distinctive voices of some of today’s most important established and emerging opera composers. Produced by OPERA America, the Songbook was recorded, edited and mastered at Gurari Studios in New York City in the summer of 2012.
Both audio recordings and a published collection are available for the Songbook.
Purchase recordings from ITunes.
Purchase sheet music from Hal Leonard.
In two premiere performances, composer D.J. Sparr and librettists Mark Campbell and Davis Miller‘s hour-long opera tells the story of a reporter’s transformative meeting with the boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Approaching Ali features Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Soloman Howard (Joe in Show Boat) as Muhammad Ali, David Kravitz as Davis Miller, Aundi Marie Moore as Odessa Clay, and Ethan McKelvain as Young Davis. The opera will be performed with a chamber orchestra conducted by Steven Jarvi, and receive a complete staging by director Nicole Watson and a design team with mentorship provided by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello.
“’Approaching Ali’…features an imaginative score by Baltimore School for the Arts alum D.J. Sparr. His harmonic style is nicely spicy, but fundamentally tonal, and he reveals a good sense of propulsion; like Ali in his prime, the score is nimble on its feet.” –Baltimore Sun
“…Sparr knows how to send a vocal line soaring vividly, and how to extract a great deal of color from a 10-member orchestra…” –Baltimore Sun
“…”Approaching Ali” makes a worthy calling card for the American Opera Initiative. It also demonstrates Sparr’s considerable potential; his first attempt in this tricky genre lands some very solid punches.” –Baltimore Sun
“Creating a modern opera work without alienating audiences seems to be no small feat.” –Maryland Theater Guide
“The audience obviously wanted more after the world premiere of Washington National Opera’s Approaching Ali. The 50 minute work… received a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd whom over ninety percent actually stayed for a 15 minute Q&A, an awesome feat for any Modern Opera production…The show is a contemporary human story set to a 21st century score, and polished with an accessible finish.” –Maryland Theater Guide
“Some of the most alluring music was written for the character of Odessa Clay, Mr. Ali’s mother, beautifully enacted by Aundi Marie Moore. She spun out the bluesy humming with a honeyed tone, one of several Americana elements of the score.” –The New York Times
“In a genre dominated by four-hour behemoths, it’s pleasantly rare to feel that a work is too short, with the somewhat abrupt conclusion here leaving you wanting more.” – The New York Times
“… Miller’s well-respected book—reduced to a simple yet surprisingly deep libretto by everyone’s favorite American librettist, the skillful Mark Campbell and set to music by D. J. Sparr, a composer we had previously not encountered—has been transformed into a compact, intensely emotional work of musical theater that explores the tragedies and triumphs of the human inscape in unexpected and at times powerful ways.” –Washington Times
“Some of the best vocal writing, however, fell to Domingo-Cafritz alumna Aundi Marie Moore … who had a coffee-rich tone as Odessa, full of maternal savvy and bluesy vernacular touches.” –Washington Post
Read more about the premiere here.
Songs from an Unmade Bed is a theatrical song cycle for one performer and three musicians that explores the romantic life of a gay man living in the city. One lyricist and eighteen composers (one per song) combined to create a unique theatrical event that is funny, poignant and ultimately hopeful about love.
Debra Barsha – Mark Bennett – Peter Foley – Jenny Giering – Peter Golub – Jake Heggie – Lance Horne – Stephen Hoffman – Gihieh Lee – Steven Lutvak – Steve Marzullo – Brendan Milburn – Chris Miller – Greg Pliska – Duncan Sheik – Kim D. Sherman – Jeffrey Stock – Joseph Thalken
New York Theatre Workshop, 2005
Funny, light, sardonic, [Songs] depicts a familiar kind of New York gay life that’s seldom celebrated in this manner. There’s no big political agenda here, no coming-out statement or demand for equal time: just amusing observation with an understated acuity that gives this entertaining evening a little extra punch.
—The New York TimesSongs From an Unmade Bed might be one of the best hours not spent in bed. Mark Campbell’s lean style, sly point of view and overall sensibility are entirely his own.
—VarietyComical and moving…An amusing and entirely unsentimental tableau of single life in the city…Campbell’s lyrics are witty, imaginative and at times seemingly very personal.
—Associated PressSongs From an Unmade Bed is really meant to be experienced. Though not sweeping and epic as some musicals or rugged and stuffy as some recitals, it is touching and delicate and that is something you don’t see everyday.
—EDGE, Los Angeles
| Purchase the CD | Purchase the Piano/vocal Score |
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To inquire about the rights to perform Songs from an Unmade Bed, please fill out a quote request here.
