Damon Ferrante is an American composer whose works have been performed in concert halls and performance venues throughout North America, most notably, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, Guild Hall, and Theatre Project. His opera, ''Jefferson & Poe'', (with

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

Daniel Mark Epstein), received its premiere in 2005 at Symphony Space in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His song cycle, ''The Mountain & Tidewater Songs'' (also on texts by Epstein), has been performed throughout the United States (including Carnegie Hall) since 2006.

Critical Reaction

Tim Smith of ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' calls Ferrante's music "focused and colorful...with an unexpected, decidedly poetic touch".

Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...

of ''

Baltimore City Paper ''Baltimore City Paper'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1977 by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch. The most recent owner was the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which purchased the paper in 2014 from ...

'' states, "If the tune has the elegance of traditional opera, the harmonization is very modern as the vocal lines climb and descend the melodic staircases that Ferrante has constructed for them".

Anne Midgette Anne Midgette (born June 22, 1965) is an American music critic who was the first woman to write classical music criticism regularly for ''The New York Times''. She was the chief classical music critic of ''The Washington Post'' from 2008 to 20 ...

, writing in ''

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 ...

'' on Friday, December 2, 2005, cited Ferrante's opera ''Jefferson and Poe'' as one of the three operas to see in New York in early December; the two other operas listed were productions of ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

'' and '' Carmen'' at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

Selected works

*'' Jefferson & Poe: A Lyric Opera in Two Acts'' *''Super Double Lite: An Opera in Two Acts'' *''Toward Home: An Evening Length Work for Modern Dance'' *''The Mountain and Tidewater Songs: A Song Cycle for Baritone and Piano Trio'' *''Snow Moon: A Piano Sonata'' *''Dreaming Cities: A Piano Trio'' *''Guitar Concerto'' *''The Footbridge: A Guitar Duo'' *''From Out of Air: Songs for Soprano and Piano''

References

D'Haene, Elise; "Exploring Opera's New Golden Age".
''The East Hampton Star'' 2 August 2007
Himes, Geoffrey; "From Stage to Sing: Composer Damon Ferrante Coaxes Baltimore Writer Daniel Mark Epstein To Transform His Play Into An Opera".
''Baltimore City Paper'' 16 November 2005.

1971 births Living people American male composers 21st-century American composers Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male musicians {{US-composer-20thC-stub