Dan Shore (born 1975) is an American composer and playwright from

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is the fastest-growing major city in Pennsylvania ...

, whose works include ''The Beautiful Bridegroom'', '' An Embarrassing Position'', ''Travel'', ''Works of Mercy'', and ''Lady Orchid''.

Education

Shore attended the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, where he studied composition with Lee Hyla, Malcolm Peyton, and Scott Wheeler. He spent four years as a composer and lyricist in the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and studied opera composition in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

on a

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

grant. He received his Ph.D. in composition from the Graduate Center of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pro ...

, where studied playwriting with

Tina Howe Tina Howe (born November 21, 1937) is an American playwright. In a career that spans more than four decades, Howe's best-known works include ''Museum'', '' The Art of Dining'', '' Painting Churches'', ''Coastal Disturbances'', and ''Pride's Crossi ...

and composition with David Del Tredici.

Compositions

His comic opera ''The Beautiful Bridegroom'', based on the play "Den forvandlede Brudgom" by

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

, was awarded first prize in the National Opera Association's Chamber Opera Composition Competition in 2009. Written for a cast of six sopranos, it has been produced over thirty times. Another comic opera, '' An Embarrassing Position'', based on a sketch by the same name by

Kate Chopin Kate Chopin (, also ; born Katherine O'Flaherty; February 8, 1850 – August 22, 1904) was an American author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. She is considered by scholars to have been a forerunner of American 20th-century feminis ...

, received a Big Easy Entertainment Award in 2011. It also received first prize in the National Opera Association's Chamber Opera Composition Competition, in 2013. His most recent project is the opera ''Freedom Ride'', which commemorates the 1961

Freedom Rides Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions ''Morgan v. Virgini ...

. Scenes from the opera were previewed at a 2011 gala hosted by

Longue Vue House and Gardens Longue Vue House and Gardens, also known as Longue Vue, is a historic house museum and associated gardens at 7 Bamboo Road in the Lakewood neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The former home of Edgar Stern and Edith Rose ...

, which originally commissioned the opera. In August 2016, a suite of excerpts from the opera was performed in Mexico City with La Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería. The completed opera will have its world premiere in 2020 at Chicago Opera Theater, conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya and directed by Tazewell Thompson.

Academia

Shore has taught at

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates unde ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

, and

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and now teaches at the

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founde ...

References

1975 births Living people American classical composers American male classical composers American opera composers Baruch College faculty Boston Conservatory at Berklee faculty Classical musicians from Pennsylvania Emerson College faculty Male opera composers Musicians from Allentown, Pennsylvania New England Conservatory alumni Xavier University of Louisiana faculty Graduate Center, CUNY alumni Writers from Allentown, Pennsylvania {{US-composer-20thC-stub