Music by Laura Kaminsky
Words by Elaine Sexton
Design by Charles Renfro
The ghost of Benjamin Franklin, the first US Postmaster General, is drawn into a thoroughly contemporary conflict among co-workers in a one-room post office about gay marriage, free speech, racial and class divides, and democracy itself in a provocative new opera by composer Laura Kaminsky (AS ONE) and poet/librettist Elaine Sexton (Site Specific). Produced by American Opera Projects, THE POST OFFICE makes its premiere, featuring a cast of five singers and piano, and a set designed by Charles Renfro, a partner in the distinguished architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro with a long history of involvement in the performing arts.
LAURA KAMINSKY (music) frequently addresses social and political issues in her work with a distinct musical language that is “full of fire as well as ice, contrasting dissonance and violence with tonal beauty and meditative reflection.” (American Record Guide). Her first opera, AS ONE (co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, AOP-commissioned and developed) is the most produced 21st century opera since its 2014 BAM premiere, with 65+ productions internationally. In addition to AS ONE and THE POST OFFICE, she has composed 7 other operas in the past decade that have been produced across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and South America. Her chamber music and instrumental works have been performed widely by acclaimed artists, including pianists Ursula Oppens, Jenny Lin, Mackenzie Melemed, Margaret Kampmeier; and Idith Meshulam; the Fry Street, Cassatt, and Carpe Diem String Quartets; Sybarite 5; Quintet of the Americas, Ensemble Pi, and Hub New Music. She recently completed a score for PBS's Poetry in America. She is on the faculty at SUNY Purchase and Boston Conservatory/Berklee. laurakaminsky.com
Laura Kaminsky
Music
ELAINE SEXTON (words) is a poet, librettist, critic, and educator. Her latest collection of poems is Site Specific: New & Selected (Grid Books, 2025). Her four previous books of poetry are: Sleuth (New Issues, 2003), Causeway (New Issues, 2008), Prospect/Refuge (Sheep Meadow Press, 2015), and Drive (Grid Books, 2022). Her poems, art reviews, book reviews, and works in visual art have appeared in journals and anthologies, textbooks and websites, and include American Poetry Review, Art in America, Poetry, Ploughshares, and O! the Oprah Magazine.
In addition to The Post Office, she wrote the text for After Stonewall, co-commissioned by the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), and Five Boroughs Music Festival, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
Sexton teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and has been guest faculty at New York University and City College (CUNY). She regularly teaches poetry at arts and writing programs and centers in the U.S. and abroad.
Elaine Sexton
Words
Charles Renfro joined Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) in 1997 and became a Partner in 2004. Charles has led many of DS+R’s most significant performing arts projects, including the expansion of The Juilliard School at Lincoln Center, the Tianjin Juilliard School in China, and the Prior Performing Arts Center at the College of the Holy Cross. He is leading the design of the new home for the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance in Harlem, and Sarofim Hall, a new facility for Rice University’s Visual Arts department. In collaboration with choreographer Jonah Bokaer, Charles led the environmental design for performance pieces such as Indecent Spaces and Late Nights on Air. Prior to that, he collaborated with the Australian Dance Theatre on Be Your Self. Charles is a National Academy of Design Academician, has received the 2015 Texas Medal of the Arts Award, and has appeared twice on the Out100 list. He is also involved with BOFFO, an organization that supports the work of queer LGBTQ+ BIPOC artists.
Charles Renfro
Design
CREATIVE TEAM
Kevin Newbury is an opera, theatre, film and television director and producer based in New York City.
Kevin has directed over 100 original projects in multiple mediums. Career highlights include three productions for PBS GREAT PERFORMANCES: the world premiere of BEL CANTO (Lyric Opera of Chicago), the world premiere of DOUBT (Minnesota Opera) and Bernstein’s MASS (Ravinia Festival). Kevin’s long collaboration with acclaimed composer Gregory Spears includes five world premieres: FELLOW TRAVELERS (Greg Pierce, librettist: Cincinnati Opera, Prototype Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Arizona Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and Virginia Opera, New York Times: Best Classical Music, 2016, New Yorker: Best Classical Recordings 2016, Opera News: Best Classical Recordings of the Decade), O COLUMBIA (Royce Vavrek, librettist: Houston Grand Opera), PAUL’S CASE (Kathryn Walat, co-librettist: Urban Arias, Prototype Festival, Opera News: Best Classical Recordings of 2014) and, with librettist Tracy K. Smith, CASTOR & PATIENCE (Cincinnati Opera, New York Times: Best Classical Music, 2022) and THE RIGHTEOUS (Santa Fe Opera, 2024). In 2026, Kevin launched the 10th Anniversary National Tour of FELLOW TRAVELERS at Seattle Opera. The Tour will travel to over a dozen companies around the country in 2026 and 2027.
Kevin Newbury
Director
David Bloom (he/him) is a conductor equally at home in orchestral repertoire, opera, and new music, noted for his “dazzling precision and grace” (San Francisco Chronicle), “intelligence, elegance, and passion” (Opera News), “ferocious and focused” (The New York Times) performances, and “breathtaking and inspired programming” (Shepherd Express). He dedicates his work to collaborating with artists and communities to inspire creativity, empathy, and joy.
Bloom has guest conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Washington National Opera, American Composers Orchestra, Opera Omaha, Central City Opera, Tri-Cities Opera, Bang on a Can All-Stars, The Crossing, Ensemble Connect, and Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and worked with soloists Dashon Burton, David Byrne, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Helga Davis, Nathalie Joachim, Kronos Quartet, Isabel Leonard, Courtney Love, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Hila Plitmann, Dawn Upshaw, Andrew Yee, and many more. He has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Kennedy Center, Park Avenue Armory, and Big Ears Festival. He conducted the opening of Lincoln Center’s 2024 Summer for the City festival with a program of operatic standards and original songs with drag artists Sapphira Cristál, Monét X Change, and Thorgy Thor.
David Bloom
Conductor
Internationally acclaimed Israeli-American pianist Daniel Gortler has delighted audiences and critics alike with his performances of solo and chamber music, as well as concerti with some of the world’s leading orchestras, receiving praise for his technical mastery and musical ingenuity. “A refined interpreter with sophisticated fingers” (Classica Magazine), his lyrically nuanced and sparklingly virtuosic technique “paints pictures in front of our ears” (Fanfare).
Gortler made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and has since performed as soloist with renowned orchestras including the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, NDR Symphony, North-West German Philharmonic , Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and in the U.S., with the San Francisco, New World, Houston, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed with the premiere Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as well as with all other orchestras in Israel.
Daniel Gortler
Pianist
CAST
Soprano Sarah Moulton Faux finds forgotten music and brings it back to life. Lauded for her "full, silvery soprano" (Opera News), "luminous voice" (Textura), and "mesmerizing" performances (Brooklyn Spectator), she has appeared at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall, and is a frequent guest with orchestras and opera companies.
Moulton Faux's work extends beyond the stage into the archive. Her album YULIYA (Azica Records) presents the first modern recordings of Julia Weissberg Rimsky-Korsakov's songs—compositions silent for over a century after the Jewish composer's death during the Nazi siege of Leningrad. She uncovered the scores at the Russian State Library in Moscow, then recorded them with pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski and seven-time Grammy® winner Judith Sherman. Her American Prize–winning debut, Where Should This Music Be? Songs of Lola Williams (New World Records), followed the same path: archival discovery, then recording.
Sarah Moulton Faux
Anna
Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert has established herself as one of the preeminent interpreters of some of the brightest stars of new classical music. A true singing actress, she has received critical acclaim for her interpretations of both new and traditional repertoire in opera, concert, and chamber repertoire. “Gaissert gave a dramatically powerful, vocally stunning portrait of a woman growing increasingly desperate and delusional from lack of contact with the outer world. Gaissert’s development of Loats’s personality was utterly believable, and she gave a virtuoso performance of this very challenging music’ (Arlo McKinnon, Opera News for The Echo Drift). Known for her warm tone, powerful stage presence, and impeccable musicianship and technical prowess…."Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert was impossible to ignore as the headstrong Mother Marie. She has a pure, powerful and appealing voice and a forceful stage presence to match." (Denver Post)
A passionate advocate for the power, emotional and social immediacy of new works, Ms. Gaissert’s solo debut album titled “HOME”, which consisted of 7 world premiere works, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Classical charts and received great acclaim from Opera News, The New Yorker, and the London Financial Times among others.
Blythe Gaissert
Emily
Brian Jeffers is a NYC-based performer praised for his “flexible and heroic tenor” (Opera News) and “mix of comic boldness and fine voice.”(Arts Knoxville). Recent engagements include his recital debut, Songs of a Lark with Vesper Concerts Omaha, Cendrillon (Count Barigoule) with Knoxville Opera, and Sweeney Todd (Beadle Bamford) with Chautauqua Opera Company. His 2024-2025 engagements include The Rake’s Progress (Sellem) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (Mole) with Opera Omaha.
Active in choral and popular repertoire, he is a member of the New York Philharmonic Chorus (Done Made My Vow, Mozart’s Mass in C, Maestro, Mahler 2) and has performed as a backing vocalist for Kristin Chenoweth and the Phoenix Symphony. In 2023 he performed with Sharon Stone and the Gloria choir with Sam Smith on Saturday Night Live. He holds his BM in Voice from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln and MM in Music Theatre-Opera from Arizona State. He is a young artist alum of Chautauqua Opera, Opera Saratoga, Aspen Opera Theatre, and the Broadway Dreams Foundation. He is represented by Insignia Artists Management.
Brian Jeffers
Frank
With two decades of distinguished experience as a performer, educator, writer, and passionate LGBTQ+ activist, American baritone Michael Kelly has carved out a remarkable and multifaceted artistic career. His performances have captivated audiences worldwide, earning him accolades as a “mesmerizing” and “vocally splendid” artist. Michael has graced the stages of renowned international opera and orchestral companies, showcasing a diverse repertoire that spans numerous styles and historical periods. Notable venues that have hosted his artistry include Carnegie Hall, Geffen Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, and prestigious festivals such as Santa Fe Opera and Theatre du Châtelet, as well as partnerships with symphony orchestras across the United States. His contributions to the music world are further highlighted by his appearances on nine commercially released recordings.
Michael Kelly
Benjamin Franklin
Named one of the world’s 100 most creative visionaries in experiential art by the XLIST 2025, David Adam Moore maintains a prolific international career as a performer, director, and immersive media artist. As a Grammy-nominated leading baritone for companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Covent Garden, and the Salzburger Festspiele, his repertoire of over 60 principal roles features acclaimed interpretations of Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin, Dead Man Walking, Billy Budd, Stanley Kowalski, Prior Walter, Winterreise, and Carmina Burana. A devotee of contemporary music, Moore has created roles for composers including Thomas Adès, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Peter Eötvös, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and David T. Little. His work in digital media and performance art has been presented by institutions worldwide, including the Guggenheim, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Alongside his artistic partner, director/designer Vita Tzykun, Moore is the artistic director of the NYC-based transmedia collective GLMMR. He serves on the faculty of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Theater Institute and as Granada Artist-in-Residence and Visiting Professor at the University of California, Davis.
David Adam Moore
Benjamin Franklin
Baritone Markel Reed “brings great articulate power and style” (Broadway World) to concert, recital and opera performances throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. A passionate conveyor of the operatic repertoire, Reed has been cited for “delighting the crowd with his musical and dramatic expression” (Upstage Post) in both standard and contemporary repertoire. At the Metropolitan Opera, Reed performed with the ensemble and covered Adult James in production of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones and sang in their 2019 GRAMMY®Award-winning production of Porgy and Bess following the successful creation of the role of Chester in Fire Shut Up in My Bones in its world premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Markel Reed
Ben
DESIGNERS
Phillip Franck
Lighting Designer
Alex Knezo
Associate Designer
Amanda Roberge
Costume Designer
Audio Excerpt from THE POST OFFICE workshop with Cincinatti Opera, March 22, 2025:
THE POST OFFICE, Scene 3 excerpt, Emily sings directly to Benjamin Franklin (ghost):
"Words mattered to you.
Decency mattered.
Honesty and humor mattered.
You believed in the common good.
You changed the word,
“sacred,”
to be “self evident,”
as in: We hold these truths,
these truths…. to be
self-evident.
To hold anything “sacred” is
the language of gods, and kings,
of despots (you said),
Not the law.
Here is your legacy
your post office––
your mess."
Information
Duration 70' / no intermission
Commission Queen City Opera. March 2025 workshop by Opera Fusion: New Works, Cincinnati
Premiere AOP Production Premiere run at Spruce Peak Arts (May 7-8, 2026); Brooklyn Academy of Music (May 16-21, 2026)
Roles 5 singers (1 soprano, 1 mezzo-soprano, 1 tenor, 1 baritone, 1 bass-baritone)
Instrumentation Piano