ALT Celebrates Opera Week with The Poe Project 10/29-11/7

American Lyric Theater is proud to join nearly 100 other opera organizations nationwide to celebrate National Opera Week (October 29 - November 7), organized by OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, with support of the National Endowment for the Arts.

National Opera Week celebrates the vitality of opera in America today and brings the inventiveness and excitement of opera to a broader national audience. The strength and diversity of established opera companies, community opera ensembles and opera training programs across the United States will be shared through a variety of free and accessible activities for opera lovers and newcomers to the art form.

"National Opera Week is an opportunity to highlight the astounding diversity and creativity of opera activity across the United States today," stated Marc A. Scorca, president & CEO of OPERA America. "There is something for everyone during National Opera Week, providing both the seasoned attendee and newcomer a chance to learn about, experience and enjoy the art form in an informal setting."
As part of National Opera Week, on Monday, November 1st, 2010 at 7:00 PM, American Lyric Theater will present a concert reading of THE POE PROJECT: three one-act operas inspired by the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe: BURIED ALIVE by Jeff Myers and Quincy Long; ...OF THE FLESH by Jay Anthony Gach and Royce Vavrek; and EMBEDDED by Patrick Soluri and Deborah Brevoort. The operas of this exciting new trilogy are not simply adaptations of Poe stories. Under the mentorship of Michael Korie, ALT asked these writers: What might Poe write if he were alive today? The chilling results will be performed in concert at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street) with a cast featuring soprano Caroline Worra, soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine, mezzo-soprano Sarah Heltzel, tenor Chad A. Johnson, baritone Christopher Burchett, and bass Kevin Burdette. Leesa Dahl serves as music coordinator and pianist for the concert, which will be conducted by Keith Chambers. Tickets are $12 in advance, or $16 on the day of the performance, and are available from www.symphonyspace.org or by calling (212) 864-5400.

ABOUT AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER

American Lyric Theater (ALT) was founded by Lawrence Edelson in 2005 to build a new body of operatic repertoire for new audiences by nurturing composers and librettists, developing sustainable artistic collaborations, and contributing new works to the national canon. ALT is not an opera company by any traditional definition. Many opera companies commission and perform new works; but ALT is the only company in the United States that offers extensive, full time mentorship for emerging operatic writers. While the traditional company model focuses on producing a season, ALT's programs focus on serving the needs of composers and librettists, developing new works, and collaborating with larger producing companies to help usher those works into the repertoire.

In 2006, ALT commissioned its first main stage work: THE GOLDEN TICKET, a new opera based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by American composer Peter Ash. After Ash and his librettist partner, Donald Sturrock, began independent development of this opera, ALT commissioned its completion with Felicity Dahl, and provided a supportive mentorship environment for three years. Under a new collaborative producing model, ALT developed a partnership with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to present the world premiere of THE GOLDEN TICKET, which took place in June 2010 to tremendous critical and audience acclaim. The European Premiere of THE GOLDEN TICKET took place this October at Ireland's Wexford Festival Opera, and discussions are currently underway for additional presentations of the opera at multiple cities in the United States. In 2009, ALT initiated a second main stage commission, THE POE PROJECT: a trilogy of one-act operas inspired by the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe being written by six Resident Artists from ALT's Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP). Since launching the CLDP in 2007, ALT has provided intensive personalized mentorship to 17 gifted emerging artists. Currently, ALT is developing two additional full-length operas, and welcomed 8 new Resident Artists to the CLDP in the 2010-11 season.

The Composer Librettist Development Program is made possible by generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, The ASCAP Foundation - Joseph and Rosalie Meyer Fund and The Dorothy Loudon Foundation. THE POE PROJECT was commissioned by ALT with assistance from the New York State Council on the Arts.

For more information, visit www.altnyc.org