Mark Adamo Hosts ALT's FRESHLY BREWED at OPERA America 12/12

American Lyric Theater (ALT) is pleased to announce that Mark Adamo will host the first event in the company's FRESHLY BREWED concert and master class series on Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 1:00 PM.

The FRESHLY BREWED series has been designed to give the public a chance to see inside the Composer Librettist Development Program Studio. ALT's flagship program, the Composer Librettist Development Program is the only full time mentorship initiative for emerging operatic writers in the United States. Mark Adamo, internationally acclaimed composer and librettist of the operas LITTLE WOMEN and LYSISTRATA, serves as the Director of Professional Development for ALT.

December's FRESHLY BREWED event will center around a master class with Adamo, who will critique newly written duets and trios by ALT's Resident Artist Composers and Librettists. The master class will explore the process behind collaboration between Composers and Librettists, and the development of new works. A light brunch will also be served, providing an additional opportunity to meet and get to know the next generation of American operatic writers.

American Lyric Theater Resident Artist Composers to be featured include Christopher Cerrone, Justine Chen, Gerald Cohen, and Nkeiru Okoye; alongside Librettists Tony Asaro, Rochelle Bright and David Simpatico. Full biographies of ALT's Resident Artists may be found at http://www.altnyc.org/composer-librettist-development-program/resident-artists/. Guest Artists include Soprano Adrienne Danrich (San Francisco Opera, Fort Worth Opera), Mezzo Soprano Sarah Heltzel (Seattle Opera, Carnegie Hall), Baritone Sidney Outlaw (Winner of the 2010 Concourso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballe, New York City Opera), and Pianist Daniel Laor (IVAI Tel Aviv).

Tickets, which include a light brunch, are available for $15 through SmartTix at https://www.smarttix.com/Show.aspx?ShowCode=FRE44. Advance purchase is required. Due to limited seating capacity at OPERA America, tickets are strictly limited and will not be sold on the day of the event. OPERA America is located at 330 Seventh Avenue (between 28th and 29th), on the 16th Floor.

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.

For more information, visit www.altnyc.org