OPERAS
FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS
AOP HAS DEVELOPED AND PRODUCED THE NEW CANON OF OPERA AND LYRIC THEATER
Below are a sampling of works that were created by and in partnership with AOP
Click here for a comprehensive list of past premieres & projects in development
THE ECHO DRIFT
The SUMMER KING
THREE WAY
SAVAGE WINTER
AS ONE
HAGoROMO
THE POST OFFICE
THE CLIMATE OPERA PROJECT
the post office
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.
Composer: Laura Kaminsky
Librettist: Elaine Sexton
Instrumentation: Piano
Pianist: Daniel Gortler
Partners: BAM, Spruce Peak Arts (VT), Arizona Opera
THE POST OFFICE is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. THE POST OFFICE libretto is 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.
The riddle
THE RIDDLE examines the Biblical myth of Hagaar, Isaac and Sarah from tomorrow’s perspective: as the entitled inhabit space and a suffocating earth, what will the common man and woman do to survive.
Composer: Tamar Muskal
Librettist: Daniel Kramer
Instrumentation: Frame drums, beatboxer, chamber ensemble and electronics
The commissioning of Tamar Muskal for THE RIDDLE received funding from OPERA America’s Discovery Grants for Female Composers program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Barcelona, map of shadows
BARCELONA, MAP OF SHADOWS takes place in a single evening during the radio broadcast of Maria Callas’ 1956 studio recording of La Boheme.
Composer: Mikael Karlsson
Librettist: Mallory Catlett
Based on a play by: Lluïsa Cunillé
Instrumentation: International Contemporary Ensemble
Partners: Mabou Mines
Development for BARCELONA, MAP OF SHADOWS is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Conductor Rebekah Heller was partially supported by OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors, generously funded by the Marineau Family Foundation.
state of the jews
The first English opera about Theodor Herzl, STATE OF THE JEWS interweaves the political turmoil of turn-of-the-twentieth-century Europe with the relatively unknown story of Theodor’s marriage.
Composer: Alex Weiser
Librettist: Ben Kaplan
Instrumentation: Clarinet, String Quintet, Piano
Partners: The Streicker Cultural Center, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble
one drop
ONE DROP is a new opera by composer Thomas Cabaniss, adapted from the 1931 Broadway play Brass Ankle by DuBose Heyward (Porgy and Bess, 1935). The action takes place in Rivertown, a village which is in process of becoming a town, situated on the edge of a swamp in the deep south. Time: 1931.
Composer: Thomas Cabaniss
Based on a play by: DuBose Heyward
Instrumentation: Piano
Partners: Bare Opera
house of legendary
HOUSE OF LEGENDARY is the story of a famed drag performer Dee Legendary as they embark on a passionate love affair with Officer John, whose fascination with Dee takes an unexpected and dangerous turn. A contemporary riff on La traviata, House of Legendary is an exploration of queer family set against the backdrop of NYC’s 1980s ballroom scene.
Composer: Jospeh. N. Rubinstein
Librettist: Jason Kim
Instrumentation: Flute, 2 clarinets (bass clarinet), piano, 2 percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, string bass
Partners: Seagle Festival, String Orchestra of Brooklyn
The development of HOUSE OF LEGENDARY is supported in part by a Repertoire Development Grant from OPERA America’s Opera Fund.
THE GREAT DICTIONARY OF THE YIDDISH LANGUAGE
THE GREAT DICTIONARY OF THE YIDDISH LANGUAGE tells the tragi-comic story of Yiddish linguist Yudel Mark’s unfinished effort to create the first comprehensive Yiddish dictionary.
Composer: Alex Weiser
Librettist: Ben Kaplan
Instrumentation: Clarinet, string quintet, piano
Partners: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, The Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life
The climate opera PROJECT
THE CLIMATE OPERA PROJECT is a collection of four short operas celebrating Earth Day 2024 depicting unlikely heroes reeling from the cataclysm of human-influenced natural disasters. From a revengeful polar bear watching its home disappear to a water-stealing cactus, these operas tackle issues of the environment with humor and hope.
OLD KING TROUT: Music and libretto by Andrew Lynch
THE THIEVING CACTUS: Music by Gavin Knittle, Libretto by Ashton Tibbitt
POLAR: Music by William Barnett, Libretto by Fred Sauter
THE WATERING HOLE: Music by Willem Oosthuysen, Libretto by Tristen Mosoley
Instrumentation: Piano, cello
Partners: NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, NYU Department of Design for Stage and Film, NYU Office of Sustainability, BAM
MACHINAL - Libretto reading to be announced in Spring 2027
MACHINAL is about “an ordinary young woman,” Helen Jones, who meets tragic ends. It tells her story in nine short scenes: following her from her failing work as a stenographer, to marrying her boorish boss on the urging of her nagging mother; from her experience with oppressive motherhood, to a breath of air with the lover she meets in a speakeasy; to finally murdering her husband after her lover abandons her.
Composer: Kamala Sankaram
Librettist: Kathryn Walat