Real Time Opera (RTO) is a performing arts organization dedicated to the production of new opera. Founded in 2002, it is based in Contoocook,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and Oberlin,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and produces opera across the United States, engaging professional singers and a range of instrumental ensembles for performances at a wide variety of venues.

Past Productions

The first season in 2003 presented a workshop of Korczak's Orphans by Adam Silverman and Susan Gubernat based on the life of the famous Polish children's doctor, orphanage director and Holocaust martyr, Janusz Korczak. It was performed at the

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Opera House in New Hampshire and in May 2004 was presented at New York City Opera as part of VOX 2004: Showcasing American Composers. It continues to have workshopped performances at Opera Theatre of Brooklyn. Hawaiian Tan Ratface with words and music by John Trubee was premiered in February, 2004, at San Francisco's Studio Z, accompanied by the Ugly Janitors of America with choreography by Carl Franzoni. Feynman is a new opera by composer Jack Vees, Operations Director of the Yale Center for Studies in Music Technology, and librettist Paul Schick. Its subject is the Nobel Prize-winning physicist and cult figure

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of t ...

. A percussion quartet provides the orchestra backing a solo Dr. Feynman onstage. The premiere was performed at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, CT, in June 2005, and subsequent tour of New England was performed by SO Percussion and baritone Michael Cavalieri. In December 2005, Feynman was restaged in New York City at the Knitting Factory, with lighting and video design by Barry Steele and scenery design by Damen Mroczek. Future performances are in planning. Leave me Alone! was written by Dan Plonsey to a new libretto by Harvey Pekar who is perhaps best known for his series of autobiographical comic books and the subsequent movie: '' American Splendor''. It premiered January 31, 2009 at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

. RTO premiered four Pop-Up Operas in their 2012–2013 season, all designed by Cleveland artist Don Harvey, filmed and edited by Ted Sikora for online presentation. The first, Double Figure, is a translation of a Paul Celan poem by Paul Schick, performed outside Cleveland Public Theater in November 2012, starring Phil Wong (tenor) and Elaine Daiber (soprano). Frozen Community premiered on Main Street Oberlin,

in May 2013 composed by Randy Woolf with text by Robin Stranahan, music by The Bits, and dance/choreography by Ladia Yates. Silent Chorus by David Mahler was performed in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, PA in June 2013 by Stephen Ng (tenor) Paradox is an

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

opera composed by Larry Polansky to a text by Patrick Graybill, performed by Monique Holt with interpretation by Tim Chamberlain, music performed by Daniel Goode, Randall Chaves-Camacho and Dan King in August 2013.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
NOVA is composed by Lewis Nielson to a libretto by Paul Schick, directed by Jonathon Field and premiered during Cleveland Public Theater’s Big Box series 2014.

Additional Works and Commissions

A House in Bali an opera by composer Evan Ziporyn and librettist Paul Schick, first produced in 2009. ''A House in Bali'' is based on the autobiographical book by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

composer Colin McPhee. Performances in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

have combined the traditional Balinese

gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...

and dancers with Western musicians from the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Hu Tong is an opera composed by Kui Dong to a libretto by Paul Schick, based on a book by Monica Datta. It's slated to premiere in 2019.

External links

Real Time Opera (''Official site'')

Korczak's Orphans opera

SO Percussion

Footnotes

{{authority control American opera companies Contemporary music organizations Music organizations based in the United States Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in the United States