American Lyric Theater Sets 2015-16 Season

American Lyric Theater is pleased to announce a new, expansive season of trademark programming, with eight public events from September 28 to May 26 at venues around New York City. ALT ushers in its second decade with exciting new ways for opera lovers to witness the fruits of the celebrated Composer Librettist Development Program.

The CLDP is the only full time mentorship program for emerging opera composers and librettists in the country. The program is the driving force behind ALT's quest to complement the efforts of other opera companies by providing unprecedented, intensive professional training to operatic writers, and by building a new body of operatic works, which speak to contemporary audiences on their own terms - vivid music-theater, rooted in the classical traditions, that has evolved to keep pace with the interests of our diverse, contemporary American communities. In the words of ALT's founder and Producing Artistic Director Lawrence Edelson, "Great opera doesn't just happen."

This season will feature workshop performances of two new ALT commissions: The Halloween Tree, based on Ray Bradbury's novel of the same name, and commissioned in cooperation with the iconic author's estate; and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant. Along with these commissions, collaborative presentations with peer organizations like the Prototype Festival and MasterVoices (formerly the Collegiate Chorale), make for a total of four operas to be performed.

Of significant note is the brand-new ALT Alumni Series, which celebrates the accomplishments of rising alumni who are infusing vital new work into the world of international opera. This new series will be one of the first events to take place at Paola Prestini's National Sawdust, the audacious Williamsburg venue that will open in October.

"Over the past ten years, it has been so rewarding to provide mentorship to an incredibly diverse group of composers and librettists at ALT, and thrilling to see them develop new operas that have gone on to critically acclaimed productions around the country," Edelson reflects. "It has been equally satisfying to see alumni of our Composer Librettist Development Program being commissioned by other opera companies to create new works."

With a balanced and robust calendar of events for the 2015-16 season, American Lyric Theater sets a new standard for documenting progress with performance. Tickets for all events will be available September 1st at www.altnyc.org.