The American Opera Project (AOP) is a professional opera company based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City, and is a member of

Opera America __NOTOC__ Opera America, styled OPERA America, is a New York-based service organization promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera in the United States. Almost all professional opera companies and some semi-professional companies i ...

, the

Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the wes ...

Association, the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance, and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./NY). The company's primary mission is to develop and present new operatic and music theatre works and has gained a reputation for the "rarefied range" of the projects it fosters (Opera News, Dec 2008). AOP was founded in 1988 by Grethe Barrett Holby who served as Artistic Director of AOP from 1988 until 2001, at which point Charles Jarden became the company's Executive Director and Steven Osgood the company's Artistic Director. Steven Osgood left the post of Artistic Director in 2008 to pursue conducting full-time but remains the Artistic Director for AOP's "Composers & the Voice" program. AOP's year-long writing fellowship, "Composers & the Voice" was created in 2002 to bring emerging operatic composers and librettists together with singers, directors, and other artists to create a series of pieces exploring the potential of theatre and the voice. Past and present mentors for the program include

Mark Adamo Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

, Mark Campbell, John Corigliano,

Tan Dun Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and ...

Daron Hagen Daron Aric Hagen ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American composer, writer, and filmmaker. Biography Early life Daron Hagen was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in New Berlin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Hagen was the youngest of t ...

, Jake Heggie,

Libby Larsen Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum. A former holder of the Pa ...

John Musto John Musto (born 1954) is an American composer and pianist. As a composer, he is active in opera, orchestral and chamber music, song, vocal ensemble, and solo piano works. As a pianist, he performs frequently as a soloist, alone and with orch ...

Tobias Picker Tobias Picker (born July 18, 1954) is an American composer, artistic director, and pianist, noted for his orchestral works ''Old and Lost Rivers'', ''Keys To The City'', and ''The Encantadas'', as well as his operas ''Emmeline'', ''Fantastic Mr. ...

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; born 14 October 1952) is a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho has received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Inte ...

, and

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...

. Past participants include Clint Borzoni, David Claman, Conrad Cummings, Randall Eng, Renée Favand, Vivian Fung, Kristin Kuster,

Hannah Lash Han Lash (born 1981) is an American composer of concert music who has taught at Yale School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Biography Han Lash was born in Alfred, New York, USA on Novembe ...

, Gilda Lyons, Robert Paterson, Jack Perla, Zach Redler & Sara Cooper, and

Daniel Sonenberg Daniel Sonenberg (born 1970) is an American composer and performer. Sonenberg was born in Manhattan, New York in 1970, and moved to Maine in 2004. As a composer, he is best known for his opera '' The Summer King''. His work ''Baseball Songs'' won ...

. Amongst the venues and festivals where AOP productions have appeared are the

Lincoln Center Festival Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, BAM's Next Wave Festival, the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

, Symphony Space,

Irondale Center The Irondale Center for Theater, Education, and Outreach is a performance space in Brooklyn, New York. It was established in 2008 by the Irondale Ensemble Project Irondale Ensemble is an experimental theatre company founded in New York City in 1 ...

, Philadelphia's Annenberg Center,

Pittsburgh Opera Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts Sch ...

, the

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust his ...

, London's

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, Berlin's Stükke Theater, Aleksander Fredro Teatr in Poland, the

Trondheim Chamber Music Festival Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

in Norway, and the in Vienna. It has also given many out-of-doors performances sponsored by the City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation. AOP won a 2005 Encore award from the Arts & Business Council of New York for its innovative work.

Operas and other works developed with AOP

World premieres

''As One'' by

Laura Kaminsky Laura Kaminsky (born September 28, 1956) is an American composer, producer of musical and multi-disciplinary cultural events, and educator. She was born in New York City, graduated from the High School of Music and Art, and studied with Joseph ...

, Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed (BAM Fisher Center, Sept 4, 2014)
''Beauty Intolerable'' by

Sheila Silver Sheila Jane Silver (born October 3, 1946) is an American composer. Early life and studies Sheila Silver was born in Seattle, Washington in 1946, the youngest daughter of Robert and Fannie Silver. She started piano studies at the age of five. Af ...

with texts by

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

(Symphony Space, June 8, 2013)
''Before Night Falls'' by Jorge Martin and Dolores M. Koch (Fort Worth Opera, May 29, 1010)
''Brooklyn Bones'' by

Alvin Singleton Alvin Singleton (born December 28, 1940; Brooklyn, New York) is a composer from the United States. Born and raised in New York City, he received his music education from New York University (B.A.), studying with Hall Overton and Charles Wuorinen, ...

and

Patricia Hampl Patricia Hampl (born March 12, 1946) is an American memoirist, writer, lecturer, and educator. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and is one of the founding members of the Loft Literary Center. Life Patric ...

(Nov 15, 2008)
''Brooklyn Cinderella'' by

Nkeiru Okoye Nkeiru Okoye (born July 18, 1972) is an American composer and musician. She has composed many works based on American history, including ''Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom, Invitation to a Die-In'' and "The Journey of Phillis W ...

(Dweck Auditorium, June 21, 2011)
''Darkling'' by

Stefan Weisman Stefan Weisman (born 1970) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He composes opera, chamber music, orchestral music, as well as music for the theater, video and dance. Raised in East Brunswick, New Jersey, Weisman credits his ...

and Anna Rabinowitz (East 13th Street Theater, Feb 26, 2006)
''Fade'' by Stefan Weisman and David Cote (NYC PREMIERE at Galapagos Art Space, July 17, 2009)
''Fireworks'' by Kitty Brazelton and

Billy Aronson Billy Aronson is an American playwright and writer, who originated the concept of the rock opera ''Rent'', which was based on Puccini's opera ''La bohème''.Jones, Kenneth (2011)Rent, With Andy Mientus, Fabio Monteiro, Halle Morse, Begins at Pion ...

(July 2, 2002)
''Flurry Tale'' by

Rusty Magee Benjamin Rush "Rusty" Magee (August 6, 1955 – February 16, 2003) was an accomplished comedian, actor and composer/lyricist for theatre, television, film and commercials. Biography Early life Magee was born in Washington, D.C., the son ...

and Billy Aronson, with commissioned orchestrations by John Rinehimer (Clark Studio Theater, Dec 18, 1999)
''Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom'' by Nkeiru Okoye (Irondale Center, Feb 21, 2014)
'' Heart of Darkness'' by

Tarik O'Regan Tarik Hamilton O'Regan (; born 1 January 1978) is a British and American composer. His compositions number over 100 and are partially represented on 43 recordings which have been recognised with two Grammy nominations. He is also the recipien ...

and Tom Phillips (Covent Garden, Nov 1, 2011)
''Judgment of Midas'' by

Kamran Ince Kamran N. Ince (spelled İnce in Turkish, born May 6, 1960) is a Turkish-American composer. He is the winner of many prestigious awards, including a Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize, and various others. His ...

and Miriam Seidel (

Milwaukee Opera Theatre Milwaukee Opera Theatre, known colloquially as MOT, is a professional opera and musical theatre company that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely pop ...

, Feb 12, 2013)
''L'abbe Agathon'' by Arvo Pärt and Tarik O'Regan (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Jan 11, 2009)
''Love/Hate'' by Jack Perla and Rob Bailis (San Francisco Opera Center, April 2012)
''Marina: A Captive Spirit'' by Deborah Drattell and

Annie Finch Annie Finch (born October 31, 1956) is an American poet, critic, editor, translator, playwright, and performer and the editor of the first major anthology of literature about abortion. Her poetry is known for its often incantatory use of rhythm, ...

(May 1, 2003)
''Model Love'' by J. David Jackson based on poems by Henry Normal (Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, Oct 2, 2011)
''Nora, in the Great Outdoors'' by

Daniel Felsenfeld Daniel Felsenfeld (born January 5, 1970) is a composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Biography Felsenfeld was born in Washington, D.C., raised primarily in Southern California and currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife, w ...

and

Will Eno Will Eno (born 1965) is an American playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. His play, '' Thom Pain (based on nothing)'' was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 2005. His play ''The Realistic Joneses'' appeared on Broadway in 2014, wher ...

(Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, Oct 2, 2011)
''Out Cold'' by

Phil Kline Phil Kline (born 1953) is an American composer, sound artist, and performer most recognized for his '' Unsilent Night'' (1992) and ''Zippo Songs'' (2004). Beginning as a guitarist and singer in the New York City art punk scene, Kline has since ...

(BAM Fisher, Oct 25, 2012)
''

Patience and Sarah ''Patience and Sarah'' is a 1969 historical fiction novel with strong lesbian themes by Alma Routsong, using the pen name Isabel Miller. It was originally self-published under the title ''A Place for Us'' and eventually found a publisher as ...

'' by Paula M. Kimper and Wende Persons (John Jay College Theater, July 8, 1998)
''Paul's Case'' by

Gregory Spears Gregory Spears is an American composer of instrumental and operatic works that blend aspects of romanticism, minimalism, and early music. Among his best known works are the operas ''Fellow Travelers'' and ''Paul's Case'', as well as his Requiem. ...

and Kathryn Walat (Artisphere, Apr 20, 2013)
''Romulus'' by Louis Karchin (Guggenheim Museum, May 20, 2007)
''Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' by

(NYC PREMIERE at New York City Opera, Apr 19, 2011)
''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' by

Richard Peaslee Richard Peaslee (June 13, 1930, New York NY – August 20, 2016) was a composer who worked in a variety of idioms, including chorus, orchestra, dance, and soundtracks for film and television, but he was most active as a composer for the theatre. Ed ...

and Kenneth Cavander (Oct 18, 2001)
''The Blind'' by

Lera Auerbach Lera Auerbach (russian: Лера Авербах, born Valeria Lvovna Averbakh, russian: Валерия Львовна Авербах; October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born American classical composer and concert pianist.

(Lincoln Center. July 9, 2013)
''The Scarlet Ibis'' by Stefan Weisman and David Cote (HERE Arts Center, Jan 15, 2015)
''This is the Rill Speaking'' by

Lee Hoiby Lee Henry Hoiby (February 17, 1926 – March 28, 2011) was an American composer and classical pianist. Best known as a composer of operas and songs, he was a disciple of composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Like Menotti, his works championed lyricism at a ...

and

Lanford Wilson Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed." Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright ...

(Purchase College Opera, Apr 26, 2008)
''Tone Test'' by Nick Brooke (Lincoln Center, July 22, 2004)
''Windows'' by Zach Redler and Sara Cooper (NYU, March 23, 2013)

Works developed/in development

''1000 Splendid Suns'' by Sheila Silver and Stephen Kitsakas
''African Tales'' by Nkeiru Okoye and Carman Moore
''Alice in the Time of the Jabberwock'' by

and

Robert Coover Robert Lowell Coover (born February 4, 1932) is an American novelist, short story writer, and T.B. Stowell Professor Emeritus in Literary Arts at Brown University. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and metafiction. Background ...

''Companionship'' by Rachel Peters
''Decoration'' by Mikael Karlsson and David Floden
''Eichmann in Jerusalem'' by

Mohammed Fairouz Mohammed Fairouz (born November 1, 1985) is an American composer. He is one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation and has been described by Daniel J. Wakin of ''The New York Times'' as an "important new artistic voice". Fa ...

and David Shapiro
''Heinrich Heine: Doppelganger'' by Jacob Engel, Paula Kimper, and Nino Sandow
''Henry's Wife'' by Randall Eng and Alexis Bernier
''Independence Eve'' by Sidney Marquez Boquiren and Daniel Neer
''Lost Childhood'' by Janice Hamer and Mary Azrael (STAGED WORKSHOP PREMIERE at Tel Aviv-Yafo Music Center, July 29, 2007)
''Marymere'' by Matt Schickele
''Memoirs of Uliana Rooney'' by Vivian Fine and

Sonya Friedman Sonia is a feminine given name in many areas of the world including the West, Russia, Iran, and South Asia. Sonia and its variant spellings Sonja and Sonya are derived from the Russian hypocoristic ''Sonya'', an abbreviation of '' Sofiya'' (Greek ' ...

''Mila'' by Andrea Clearfield, Jean Claude Vanitaille, and Lois Walden
''Numinous City'' by

Pete M. Wyer Pete M. Wyer (born 24 March 1964) is a British composer. Early life Wyer was born in Cheltenham, England. Career He began his career as a guitarist with pop and jazz bands in the 1980s. He became a music teacher in the 1990s, while devel ...

and

Melissa Salmons Melissa Salmons is an American writer known for her work on television soap operas, known for her work on Days of Our Lives. Positions held '' Another World'' *Script Writer (1999 – June 25, 1999) ''As the World Turns'' *Script Writer (1 ...

''Our Basic Nature'' by John Glover and Kelley Rourke
''Prairie Dogs'' by Rachel Peters and

Royce Vavrek Royce Vavrek is a Canadian-born Brooklyn-based librettist, playwright, dance scenarist, musical theatre writer and filmmaker known for his collaborations with composers David T. Little, Missy Mazzoli, Mikael Karlsson, Ricky Ian Gordon, Paola Pr ...

''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' by Herschel Garfein
''Semmelweis'' by Raymond J. Lustig and Matt Gray
''Sharon's Grave'' by Richard Wargo, based on the play be John B. Keane
''Tesla in New York'' by Phil Kline and Jim Jarmusch
''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' by Paula M. Kimper
''The Companion'' by Robert Paterson and David Cote
''The Family Room'' by

Thomas Pasatieri Thomas Pasatieri (born October 20, 1945) is an American opera composer. Life and career Pasatieri was born in New York City, United States. He began composing at age 10 and, as a teenager, studied with Nadia Boulanger. He entered the Juilliard S ...

and Daphne Malfitano
''The Golden Gate'' by Conrad Cummings, based on novel by

Vikram Seth Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novels and poetry books. He has won several awards such as Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy Award, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crosswor ...

''The Leopard'' by

Michael Dellaira Michael Dellaira (born August 5, 1949) is an American composer. He is a citizen of the United States and Italy and resides in New York City with his wife, the writer Brenda Wineapple. Early life and career Dellaira was born Michael Dellario in S ...

and J.D. McClatchy
'' The Summer King'' by

''The Walled-Up Wife'' by Gilda Lyons
''The Wanton Sublime'', formerly ''The Woven Child'', by Tarik O'Regan and Anna Rabinowitz (NYC PREMIERE at Roulette, Apr 22, 2014)
''The Weeping Camel'' by Huang Ruo and Candace Chong
''Three Way'' by Robert Paterson and David Cote
''Ugetsu'' by Michael Rose and Emily Howard
''Unruly Horses'' based on the life and songs of

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...

, conceived by Mina Yakim and Moni Yakim, with additional book by Peter Kellogg
''Wolf-in-Skins'', formerly ''The Lost Lais of Albion'', by

, choreographed by Christopher Williams

References

Sources

* Kozinn, Allan (December 9, 1990)
"New Work by American Opera Projects"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' *Kozinn, Allan (May 6, 2003)
"An Operatic Treatment Of a Russian Poet's Despair"
''The New York Times'' * Ross, Alex (April 24, 1993)
"American Operas in Progress"
''The New York Times'' *Singer, Barry (December 2008)
"Risky Business "
'' Opera News'', Vol. 73, No. 6

External links

* {{authority control New York City opera companies Musical groups established in 1988 1988 establishments in New York City