AS ONE: THE WORK CONTINUES…
presented by AOP and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of NYC
March 31, 2022 at 7pm ET
To commemorate International Transgender Day of Visibility, The American Opera Project— in partnership with New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center —presents “AS ONE: THE WORK CONTINUES...” The event, moderated by baritone, model, and creative director Rahzé Cheatham, will feature an in-person panel discussion with documentary filmmaker and As One librettist Kimberly Reed, as well as As One singers, baritone Lucas Bouk and mezzo-soprano Heather Jones.
Joined by other members of the trans and opera communities, the panel will reflect on transgender and nonbinary visibility in the arts since As One premiered in 2014, and what the near future holds. The evening will also feature the announcement of the True Voice Award, a new initiative created by Kimberly Reed, Laura Kaminsky, and Mark Campbell, and overseen by Washington National Opera, to help support the training of transgender opera singers. The event will culminate with the virtual premiere of “A Brighter Light,” a choral work written specifically for the event by the creative team of As One and featuring over 35 cast members from As One productions around the world.
As One was commissioned and developed by The American Opera Project in part with funds from OPERA America's Opera Discovery Grants for Female Composers Program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature., and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works.
Premiere September 4, 2014; Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY; American Opera Projects; Steven Osgood, conductor; Ken Cazan, director.