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Lucidity debuts at On Site Opera

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Lucidity, a new opera by composer Laura Kaminsky and librettist David Cote premiered at the Abrons Arts Center in November 2024, in a stunning production by On Site Opera. The work deals with the challenging issues of aging and memory loss, in a profound way, by focusing on music’s effect on the brain.

In her twilight years, a retired singer grapples with dementia while her son forsakes his music career to care for her. Their lives converge with a young clarinetist and a music therapy researcher, igniting an exploration of music and memory. Amidst their individual struggles, moments of joy and profound sacrifice illuminate their intertwining paths.

The work featured a distinguished cast that included Lucy Shelton, Blythe Gaissert, Cristina Maria Castro and Eric McKeever. Directed by Sarah Meyers, with musical direction by Geoffrey McDonald.

 

As One Celebrates 10 Years!

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The history-making chamber opera about a transgender person’s experiences is one of the most produced contemporary operas in the world.

American Opera Projects (AOP) is proud to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the premiere of As One, the chamber opera that the esteemed company commissioned and premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on September 4, 2014. Created by Kimberly Reed, Laura Kaminsky, and Mark Campbell, this highly innovative work–which traces the experiences of its transgender protagonist in her formative years–has since been produced in 60+ venues in the U.S., Europe, Canada, South America, and Australia. The original production starred Sasha Cooke and Kelly Markgraf, with Steven Osgood conducting the Fry Street Quartet and Ken Cazan directing.

AOP’s Interim General Director Charles Jarden says, “For more than three decades, AOP has been a major force in developing new opera. While I am gratified with the monumental success of As One, I am equally thrilled that the opera has increased the visibility of trans people in our world and our industry.” Adds Amy Cassello, Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, “BAM is very proud to have played even a small part in the launch of this groundbreaking opera.”

When asked why As One is so appealing, co-librettist and filmmaker Kimberly Reed explains: “More than anything else, I think Laura, Mark, and I sought to create a joyful story centered on a character who gives audiences a chance to empathize. And laugh. And maybe cry.”

Lucia Lucas and Blythe Gaissert in Atlanta Opera’s As One (photo by: Raftermen)

Adds Alexandra Enyart, who has frequently conducted the opera: “As One has changed the trajectories for transgender performers around the country. For many companies, As One marks the first time they’ve ever featured a transgender person on stage. Even better, many companies have used As One as a springboard to include transgender people in roles and stories of all kinds.”

Lucia Lucas, who performed in the Atlanta Opera production (and stars in the Tobias Picker/Aryeh Lev Stollman opera, Lili Elbe), says: “I am so thankful to Kim for sharing her story and bringing it into the medium of opera with Mark and Laura. Some of the scenes perfectly encapsulate moments I have experienced in my life; it was very powerful to play those moments on stage.”

“As One has been an important part of my own personal and professional story.” continues Lucas Bouk, who has also performed in the opera. “It has helped me explore what it means to be trans, how to tell my own story, and how to create community.

Lucas Bouk and Georgia Jacobson in Lyric Opera of the North’s As One (photo by: Michelle Skirda)

But the story of As One doesn’t end there. In 2022, the creative team decided to leverage the success of their work and conceived the True Voice Award to support the training of transgender and nonbinary opera singers. Washington National Opera (WNO) agreed to administer the bi-annual award. Francesca Zambello, Artistic Director, WNO, says, “We are proud to be the home of the True Voice Award and grateful for these amazing artists who allow us to be an integral part of their artistic journey.” Adds Christopher Cano, Director, Cafritz Young Artists and the American Opera Initiative, WNO: “Nonbinary and trans artists deserve to have a place in our world, to have their stories told, and to have their voices heard with honesty and pride.”

On this landmark day, AOP extends its gratitude to the many companies that have produced As One in the decade since its premiere and to Kimberly, Laura, and Mark for creating the work.

Marc A. Scorca, President and CEO of OPERA America, perhaps best summarizes the impact of the work: “The beauty and emotional impact of As One fueled the expansion of American opera into alternative venues and repertoire that resonates with the world around us. It earned its place as the most performed new work of the last decade and changed the opera landscape.”

Selections from As One

Click here to inquire about the 10th Anniversary tour.

The Tao of Muhammad Ali-podcast

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With a host of world-class producers and under the auspices of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment and IHeart Media, Davis Miller dedicated three years to producing, writing and hosting this show, the first genuinely visceral telling of his life-transforming, life-enlarging, genuinely unique and life-affirming friendship with the Great Man.  This is not your typical podcast series; it is instead an uncompromisingly tender, artfully detailed, immersive fathers-and-sons sound movie based on his no. 1 international bestselling book, “The Tao of Muhammad Ali.”

Miller worked with co-librettist Mark Campbell and composer D.J. Sparr to create the acclaimed opera Approaching Ali based on the book. For more information, please click here.

To listen to the podcast, please visit your favorite podcast app:

Apple Music

Spotify

IheartRadio

Amazon

Heggie’s 23/24 Season is Packed with Premieres

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Dead Man Walking Opens Metropolitan Opera Season

Simulcast Worldwide to Cinemas Live in HD

September 26 – October 21, 2023

World Premiere Intelligence Opens Houston Grand Opera Season

October 20 – November 3, 2023

World Premiere & Global Tour of Joshua Bell Commission The Elements

Hamburg, Hong Kong, New York in September 2023
Chicago, Seattle in June 2024

World Premiere & U.S. Tour of Before It All Goes Dark

Music of Remembrance in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago in May 2024

DEAD MAN WALKING

Recognized by the Wall Street Journal as “arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer,” Jake Heggie is set to deliver a 2023/24 season filled with high-profile premieres and top-tier artistic collaborations. From a pair of opening night galas at the Metropolitan Opera and Houston Grand Opera to orchestral premieres with superstar violinist Joshua Bell in Hamburg, Hong Kong, and New York, Heggie’s works will offer audiences a wide range of perspectives and possibilities.

INTELLIGENCE

Created with director/choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and librettist Gene Scheer, Intelligence is based on the little-known true story of two women who infiltrated the Confederate White House during the American Civil War. The work receives its world premiere on opening night of Houston Grand Opera’s 23/24 season, conducted by Kwamé Ryan and starring Jamie Barton, Janai Brugger, and J’Nai Bridges. Brooklyn-based dance troupe Urban Bush Women infuses African ancestral dance, an art form rarely experienced in grand opera, in five performances through November 3, 2023.

THE ELEMENTS

Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell commissioned five renowned American composers – Jake Heggie, Jennifer Higdon, Edgar Meyer, Jessie Montgomery,and Kevin Puts – to dedicate themselves to the five Elements that form the basis of Aristotle’s Greek philosophy and traditional Chinese medicine: Fire, Air, Water, Ether, and Earth, respectively. Each composer has contributed one movement to this suite, which will tour major orchestras around the globe. The Elements receives its world premiere with Alan Gilbert conducting the opening night of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra season in Hamburg on September 1-2, 2023; the Asian premiere takes place September 8-9, 2023, with opening night of the Hong Kong Philharmonic season conducted by Jaap van Zweden; and the U.S. premiere will be given by the New York Philharmonic, also led by van Zweden. Subsequent performances include the Midwest premiere with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Juraj Valčuha, June 13-15, 2024, and the West Coast premiere with Seattle Symphony, led by Marin Alsop on June 20 and 22, 2024.

BEFORE IT ALL GOES DARK

Based on a compelling true story first reported by Howard Reich in the Chicago Tribune, this one-act opera follows Mac, a disabled Vietnam veteran who learns that he is the heir to a priceless art collection, stolen by the Nazis from an ancestor he didn’t know he had. Before It All Goes Dark is Music of Remembrance’s fifth commission of Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. The duo’s artistic partnership with MOR began in 2007 with For a Look or a Touch, believed to be the first major musical work to explore the Third Reich’s persecution of gay people. Before It All Goes Dark receives its world premiere at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall on May 19, 2024, starring bass-baritone Ryan McKinny and mezzo Megan Marino, with members of the Seattle Symphony under the baton of Joseph Mechavich. The Erich Parce production travels to San Francisco’s Presidio Theatre on May 22, 2024, and concludes with two performances at Chicago’s Studebaker Theater, presented in collaboration with Chicago Opera Theater May 25-26, 2024.

“I’m overjoyed – and a bit overwhelmed – by the extraordinary convergence of so many special projects this season,” said composer Jake Heggie. “These works feature some of my favorite colleagues, as well as remarkable new collaborators. I’m especially moved that my first opera, Dead Man Walking, will open the Metropolitan Opera season, while my most recent opera, Intelligence, will open the Houston Grand Opera season. It’s genuinely beyond what I could’ve imagined, and I’m so grateful to be able to share these important stories with audiences around the world.”

“My Life Online” debuts at Edinburgh Fringe

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Scott Eyerly’s tour-de-force one-woman show was featured at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. A unique comedic musical/opera starring Sarah Minns, directed by Oliver Platt, with Lana Bode piano, My Life Online tells the story of Kay, who hasn’t left her apartment for a year. She sees her shrink on Skype, does the cardio carioca workout virtually, and orders everything online. Yet she was once a dynamic immigration lawyer. What happened? Is it agoraphobia? Or something else? This all-sung, one-woman comedy reveals why Kay’s shut herself in… and what it’ll take to get her out.

The reviews are stellar:

The Scotsman “Smart, witty one-woman contemporary opera!”

The Telegraph on Sarah Minns: “It’s hard to imagine anyone doing it better!”

EdinburghFringeGuide

The Edinburgh Reporter

Rating: 3 out of 5.

You can purchase the score here.

The Scarlet Ibis

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The Scarlet Ibis is an opera that fuses singers, puppetry and multimedia stagecraft to tell the story of Doodle, a remarkable, disabled boy whose older brother pushes him to be “normal.” Set in rural North Carolina a century ago, the story contrasts notions of physical wholeness versus mystical otherness. Episodic and expressionistic, the narrative draws on elements of Southern Gothic, boy’s adventure and domestic tragedy. It unfolds in thirteen scenes, from Doodle’s traumatic birth to his tragic end. Ingenious set and puppet effects take us to various locations: a house, barn, field and swamp.

The cast includes mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn, countertenor Eric S. Brenner, mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer, baritone Keith Phares and contralto Nicole Mitchell. The Scarlet Ibis is for adults and teens.

Music by Stefan Weisman, libretto by David Cote
premiered at the 2015 PROTOTYPE Festival
A co-production between Beth Morrison Projects & HERE
Produced in association with American Opera Projects

The piano/vocal score is available for purchase here.

To request a quote for performance of the work, please click here.

Dead Man Walking at The Met

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The Metropolitan opera has announced their 2023-4 season, which will feature Jake Heggie’s and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking. Since its premiere in 2000, the opera has had over 70 productions throughout the world, and we are thrilled that the Met will be producing it.

With a cast that includes Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen, Ivo van Hove directing and Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting, this production will be a must see next season!

Grammy Nominations

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Congratulations to Jake Heggie, Laura Kaminsky, Robert Paterson and Kevin Puts for their Grammy Nominations. The recording of Heggie’s Great Scott (libretto Terrence McNally) was nominated for two awards: Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Producer of the Year (Blanton Alspaugh). Paterson’s Three Way (libretto David Cote) was also nominated for Producer of the Year (Blanton Alspaugh). And the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society’s Love Comes in at the Eye, (several Puts works) was nominated for Producer of the Year (Judith Sherman). Laura Kaminsky’s Undercurrents was also nominated for Producer of the Year (Judith Sherman).

You can see the full list of nominations here.

AS ONE most-produced opera in North America by a living composer

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Opera America has posted a list of the top 25 operas performed in North America. Number 14 on the list is As One, (Kaminsky, Campbell, Reed) making it the top opera performed in 2016/17 by living writers. Dead Man Walking (Heggie, McNally) comes in as number 23.

Congratulations to Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, Kimberly Reed, Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally! You can see the full list here.