Opera America Commissions

Some excellent news about works in development that have received support from Opera America:

• Beth Morrison Projects (Brooklyn, NY) for In Our Daughter’s Eyes by Du Yun 

• Boston Lyric Opera (Boston, MA) for The Desert Inn (working title) by Ellen Reid 

• Guerilla Opera (Haverhill, MA) for HER:alive/un/dead: a media opera by Emily Koh 

• HERE (New York, NY) for A Practical Breviary: Terce by Heather Christian 

• Houston Grand Opera (Houston, TX) for Turn and Burn, a Rodeo Opera by Nell Shaw Cohen 

• Opera on Tap (Brooklyn, NY) for Joan of the City by Kamala Sankaram 

• Opera Orlando (Orlando, FL) for The Secret River by Stella C. Y. Sung 

• Opera Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) for The Listeners by Missy Mazzoli 

• The American Opera Project (Brooklyn, NY) for Precipice by Rima Fand 

The rest of the press release is after the cut. I'll just say that I'd love to see every one of these.

Beth Morrison Projects | bethmorrisonprojects.org In Our Daughter’s Eyes Music by Du Yun, libretto by Michael Joseph McQuiken 

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun is creating In Our Daughter’s Eyes, with librettist/director Michael Joseph McQuilken, written for world-renowned baritone Nathan Gunn. This one-man opera depicts the arc of fatherhood — from the promise of life to acceptance of a devastating diagnosis — and the reconciliation of a challenging, reckless past. Yun’s newest opera will premiere at New York’s 2021 PROTOTYPE Festival and have its West Coast premiere at LA Opera. 

Opera Grants for Female Composers 2020 

Boston Lyric Opera | blo.org The Desert Inn (working title) Music by Ellen Reid, libretto by Christopher Oscar Peña 

Ellen Reid, Christopher Oscar Peña, and James Darrah will create a digital miniseries that challenges notions of how opera is developed and experienced, connects BLO to its patrons in new ways, and expands its reach to new audiences. The artists will use a television production model guided by BLO’s artistic team. 

Guerilla Opera | guerillaopera.org HER:alive/un/dead: a media opera Music and libretto by Emily Koh HER:alive/un/dead is a concert-length media opera about three generations 

of Asian women in a single family. Through birth and death cycles in the family, and encounters in a space called the in-between, these women expound on gender biases against women and discriminatory practices faced by people of Asian descent. 

HERE | here.org A Practical Breviary: Terce Music and libretto by Heather Christian 

A Practical Breviary: Terce weaves together classic monastic texts, the artist’s own adaptations, and passages from Revelations of Divine Love — a medieval text written by one of the first female theologians, who describes a revelation of spirituality through a feminine view of Christ. This mass pays homage to God as the mothers that live within us. Its lyrical score is built for two all-women choirs, with a percussive underscore of traditionally female medieval home crafts being made. 

Houston Grand Opera | houstongrandopera.org Turn and Burn, a Rodeo Opera Music by Nell Shaw Cohen, libretto by Megan Cohen 

In Turn and Burn, small-town barrel racing champion Shayla Taylor and ambitious executive Jamie Hernandez aim for a big win at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. When an accident threatens Shayla’s career- defining race, the women discover each other’s strength in adversity. Set in a colorful world of bucking broncs and carnival rides, composer Nell Shaw Cohen and librettist Megan Cohen’s original story is part of Houston Grand Opera's renowned Song of Houston program. 

Opera Grants for Female Composers 2020 

Opera on Tap | operaontap.org Joan of the City Music by Kamala Sankaram, libretto by Kamala Sankaram and Kristin Marting, based on original texts from interviews with homeless individuals and found texts 

Continuing to explore immersive tech in opera, Opera on Tap has commissioned collaborator Kamala Sankaram on Joan of the City, a site- specific mixed reality opera for five voices, string quintet, soundscape, and AR app. Audiences are led through city streets by one of five modern-day Joans of Arc, experiencing her visions and battling occupying forces of greed and corruption. Developed with Kristin Marting using texts by formerly homeless women, Joan explores homelessness, mental health, addiction, and abuse. 

Opera Orlando | operaorlando.org The Secret River (a new opera for all audiences based on the book by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings) Music by Stella C.Y. Sung, libretto by Mark Campbell 

The Secret River is a one-act opera for all audiences based on the Peabody Award-winning book by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, with music by fellow Floridian Stella Sung and libretto by Mark Campbell. The work depicts the story of a young African American girl who helps her family survive during the Great Depression by trusting her imagination. Scheduled to premiere in December 2021, The Secret River will feature musicians from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and performers from the Opera Orlando Youth Company. 

Opera Philadelphia | operaphila.org The Listeners Music by Missy Mazzoli, libretto by Royce Vavrek 

Opera Philadelphia, with co-commissioner Norwegian National Opera, will hold two development workshops for The Listeners, a new opera from composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek. A mother notices a “hum” that only a select few “Listeners” can hear. A community group forms to solve the mystery of the hum and takes on cult-like proportions under a de- facto leader. The world premiere will be at NNO in March 2021, and the American premiere will take place during Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O21. 

Opera Grants for Female Composers 2020 

The American Opera Project | aopopera.org Precipice Music by Rima Fand, libretto by Karen Fisher 

Precipice, an object-theater chamber opera, sets an intimate story of one young woman's struggle to find her authentic voice in the epic landscape of America’s Mountain West. By drawing parallels between environmental and emotional damage, Precipice looks at how we are silenced and exiled, and at how we find our way to connection, both with each other and in the natural world.