American Lyric Theatre's InsightALT Kicks Off Tonight

Starting tonight, Tuesday May 28th at 7pm EST, operamusicbroadcast.com will present a live webcast of InsightALT, a week-long festival that offers an intimate, inside look into American Lyric Theater's process of creating new operas at all stages of their development.

Public readings of three new operas will be at the center of the festival. Audrey Luna, Caroline Worra, Audrey Babcock, Heather Johnson, Dominic Armstrong, Javier Abreu, Daniel Belcher, and Christopher Burchett are among the featured guest singers. After each concert, there will be an open discussion exploring the creative process with the composers and librettists, moderated by ALT's Founder and Producing Artistic Director, Lawrence Edelson. InsightALT will also offer the opportunity for the public to attend a master class with internationally renown sopranoCatherine Malfitano on the challenge of creating roles in new operas, and to join together for symposia curated by Glyndebourne dramaturg and ALT principal faculty member Cori Ellison.

If you are in New York City, join us in person! All festival events take place at the Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium of the JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam at 76th Street. Tickets and additional information are available atjccmanhattan.org/opera or by calling (646) 505-5708.

If you are not in New York City, you can still enjoy InsightALT online. Festival events will be streamed live, for free, all week - after which they will also be available for the next 90 days, exclusively on operamusicbroadcast.com.

Tue, May 28th at 7:00 PM
Master Class with Catherine Malfitano
Explore the unique challenges of being the first singer to create roles in new operas, with one of the world's greatest singing actresses, soprano and director Catherine Malfitano. Featuring excerpts from The Turing Project, La Reina, and The Long Walk, with guest singers Rosa Betancourt, Elise Quagliata, Heather Johnson, Javier Abreu, Jonathan Estabrooks, and Christopher Burchett; and pianist Jody Schum.

Wed, May 29th at 7:00 PM
Symposium: Fantasizing History
How much does historical accuracy matter when adapting real life events for the opera stage? All three operas featured as part of InsightALT are inspired by real life events - but the balance between fact and fiction differs in each piece. Glyndebourne Dramaturg and ALT Artist Mentor Cori Ellison leads this symposium with guests conductor Steven Osgood, baritone Daniel Belcher, librettist Royce Vavrek, librettist David Simpatico, and composer Jorge Sosa.

Thu, May 30th at 7:00 PM
THE TURING PROJECT: A Concert of Scenes from a New Opera in Development at ALT
Music by Justine F. Chen
Libretto by David Simpatico
FEATURING: Jonathan Estabrooks, Kathryn Guthrie, Elise Quagliata, Kyle Bielfield, Benjamin Robinson, Joseph Beutel and Justin Hopkins; pianist, Gloria Kim; conducted by Keith Chambers.
An iconoclastic thinker and social misfit born to the Edwardian upper class in 1912, Alan Turing was a simple man of extraordinary abilities. His achievements include creating the first universal computer; breaking the Nazi U-Boat code, which proved crucial to the success of the allied forces in WWII; and creating the field of Artificial Intelligence and the future of digital, binary reality. Yet, despite the many benefits Turing's ideas bestowed upon humanity, the British government charged him with Gross Indecency for the crime of being homosexual, and punished him with chemical castration. A year after his sentence was carried out, Turing committed suicide at the age of 41, eating an apple laced with cyanide - according to the official coroner's report. Many speculate that his apparent suicide was inspired by his life-long love of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But others don't think his death was suicide at all. This new opera imagines the man inside the legend, the unique perspective he had on the universe, the public and unashamed view he had of his own homosexuality, and the impact he had upon the future of civilization.

Sun, Jun 2nd at 3:00 PM
Symposium: Of Arms and the Man I Sing
How have some operas glorified war while others have laid bare its horrors? Dramaturg Cori Ellison returns to lead this symposium with Brian Castner, author of the critically acclaimed book, The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life that Follows, which serves as the inspiration for ALT's new opera of the same name; The Long Walk composer and librettist Jeremy Howard Beck and Stephanie Fleischmann; and Pulitzer Prize winning composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, who recently collaborated on the wildly successful new opera, Silent Night.

Sun, Jun 2nd 7:00 PM
THE LONG WALK: A Concert of Scenes from a New Opera in Development at ALT
Music by Jeremy Howard Beck
Libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann
Based on the book The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life that Follows by Brian Castner.
FEATURING: Daniel Belcher, Heather Johnson, Glenn Seven Allen, Kyle Bielfield, Justin Hopkins, Caroline Worra, Donita Volkwijn, Benjamin P. Wenzelberg, Mercer Patterson, and Hayden Wall; pianist, Djordje Nesic; guitarist Taylor Levine; conducted by Steven Osgood.
The Long Walk is based on Brian Castner's critically acclaimed memoir of the same name, which describes a soldier's return from Iraq where he served as an officer in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit and his battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as he tries to reintegrate into his family life upon his return from the war. This haunting and moving new opera makes the paradox of coming home from war and the near impossibility of a smooth reintegration come alive.

Mon, Jun 3rd at 7:00 PM
LA REINA: A Concert of a New Opera in Development at ALT
Music by Jorge Sosa
Libretto by Laura Sosa Pedroza
Featuring: Audrey Babcock, Audrey Luna, Rosa Betancourt, Christopher Burchett, Dominic Armstrong, Javier Abreu, Tom McNichols, Joseph Beutel, John Matthew Meyers and Michael Zegarski; pianist, Mila Henry;conducted by Andrew Bisantz.
Through the eyes of one of the most notorious drug queenpins in history, La Reina sheds light on the violent, real life events taking place in Mexico and the United States in the ongoing drug wars. The opera is being written in both Spanish and English, and features an electro-acoustic score.

How much does historical accuracy matter when adapting real life events for the opera stage? All three operas featured as part of InsightALT are inspired by real life events - but the balance between fact and fiction differs in each piece. Glyndebourne Dramaturg and ALT Artist Mentor Cori Ellison leads this symposium with guests conductor Steven Osgood, baritone Daniel Belcher, librettist Royce Vavrek, librettist David Simpatico, and composer Jorge Sosa.

Thu, May 30th at 7:00 PM
THE TURING PROJECT: A Concert of Scenes from a New Opera in Development at ALT
Music by Justine F. Chen
Libretto by David Simpatico
FEATURING: Jonathan Estabrooks, Kathryn Guthrie, Elise Quagliata, Kyle Bielfield, Benjamin Robinson, Joseph Beutel and Justin Hopkins; pianist, Gloria Kim; conducted by Keith Chambers.
An iconoclastic thinker and social misfit born to the Edwardian upper class in 1912, Alan Turing was a simple man of extraordinary abilities. His achievements include creating the first universal computer; breaking the Nazi U-Boat code, which proved crucial to the success of the allied forces in WWII; and creating the field of Artificial Intelligence and the future of digital, binary reality. Yet, despite the many benefits Turing's ideas bestowed upon humanity, the British government charged him with Gross Indecency for the crime of being homosexual, and punished him with chemical castration. A year after his sentence was carried out, Turing committed suicide at the age of 41, eating an apple laced with cyanide - according to the official coroner's report. Many speculate that his apparent suicide was inspired by his life-long love of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But others don't think his death was suicide at all. This new opera imagines the man inside the legend, the unique perspective he had on the universe, the public and unashamed view he had of his own homosexuality, and the impact he had upon the future of civilization.

Sun, Jun 2nd at 3:00 PM
Symposium: Of Arms and the Man I Sing
How have some operas glorified war while others have laid bare its horrors? Dramaturg Cori Ellison returns to lead this symposium with Brian Castner, author of the critically acclaimed book, The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life that Follows, which serves as the inspiration for ALT's new opera of the same name; The Long Walk composer and librettist Jeremy Howard Beck and Stephanie Fleischmann; and Pulitzer Prize winning composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, who recently collaborated on the wildly successful new opera, Silent Night.

Sun, Jun 2nd 7:00 PM
THE LONG WALK: A Concert of Scenes from a New Opera in Development at ALT
Music by Jeremy Howard Beck
Libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann
Based on the book The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life that Follows by Brian Castner.
FEATURING: Daniel Belcher, Heather Johnson, Glenn Seven Allen, Kyle Bielfield, Justin Hopkins, Caroline Worra, Donita Volkwijn, Benjamin P. Wenzelberg, Mercer Patterson, and Hayden Wall; pianist, Djordje Nesic; guitarist Taylor Levine; conducted by Steven Osgood.
The Long Walk is based on Brian Castner's critically acclaimed memoir of the same name, which describes a soldier's return from Iraq where he served as an officer in an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit and his battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as he tries to reintegrate into his family life upon his return from the war. This haunting and moving new opera makes the paradox of coming home from war and the near impossibility of a smooth reintegration come alive.

Mon, Jun 3rd at 7:00 PM
LA REINA: A Concert of a New Opera in Development at ALT
Music by Jorge Sosa
Libretto by Laura Sosa Pedroza
Featuring: Audrey Babcock, Audrey Luna, Rosa Betancourt, Christopher Burchett, Dominic Armstrong, Javier Abreu, Tom McNichols, Joseph Beutel, John Matthew Meyers and Michael Zegarski; pianist, Mila Henry;conducted by Andrew Bisantz.
Through the eyes of one of the most notorious drug queenpins in history, La Reina sheds light on the violent, real life events taking place in Mexico and the United States in the ongoing drug wars. The opera is being written in both Spanish and English, and features an electro-acoustic score.