American Opera Projects to Present COMPOSERS & THE VOICE: FIRST GLIMPSE 2012, 5/20-5/21

On Sunday, May 20 and Monday, May 21, 2012 at 8pm American Opera Projects (AOP) will present COMPOSERS & THE VOICE: FIRST GLIMPSE 2012, the first public presentation of compositions developed during this season's Composers & the Voice program. Audiences will hear songs written by five emerging composers - Sidney Marquez Boquiren, Mikael Karlsson, Robert Paterson, Rachel Peters, and Ronnie Reshef - and one composer/librettist team, Zach Redler and Sara Cooper, who were chosen by AOP to spend a year creating new works focusing on the operatic voice. The performances will be held at South Oxford Space in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the home of AOP. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for students/seniors and are available at www.operaprojects.org.

AOP Resident Ensemble of Singers performing: sopranos Andrea Arias Martin (Chautauqua Opera) and Amy Shoremount-Obra (Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera), mezzo Rebecca Ringle (Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera), tenor Brandon Snook (Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Sarasota Opera), baritone Jorell Williams (New York City Center Encores!, Caramoor International Music Festival, Ravinia Festival), and bass Justin Hopkins (Fort Worth Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia). Supporting on piano will be Composers & the Voice Music Directors Jeanne-Minette Cilliers, Mila Henry and Kelly Horsted.

Created and led by Artistic Director Steven Osgood (and former Artistic Director of AOP), Composers & the Voice began in 2002 and is currently in its seventh season. American Opera Projects selects six composers for a year-long fellowship to work with the company's Resident Ensemble of Singers for the nationally recognized workshop series, this year adding a libretto component to the program. The primary focus of Composers & the Voice is to give composers and librettists experience working collaboratively with singers on writing for the voice and contemporary opera stage. Participants meet in closed sessions from September to April to present and discuss new works composed specifically for the individual voices of the Resident Ensemble.

Composers & the Voice is made possible in part by a generous multi-year award from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Composers & the Voice fellows are supported, in part, by funding from The New York Community Trust Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund and Musical Arts Fund.

In addition to the workshop sessions, composers John Corigliano, Stephen Schwartz, John Musto, Kaija Saariaho, Daron Hagen, Tobias Picker, and librettist Gene Scheer joined Composers & the Voice as "composer chairs," sponsorships named in honor of mentors and their support of Composers & the Voice. Each of these distinguished composers was personally associated with a selected C&V composer throughout the season with opportunities to hear their work, join C&V discussions, and provide one-on-one feedback.

First Glimpse 2012 on May 20 and 21 will be the first public performances of compositions created during this year's workshops. In September 2012, the Composers & the Voice fellows will return from a summer hiatus with Six Scenes, an evening of short opera scenes presented as part of AOP's First Chance series. One of these scenes will be selected to receive a staged reading at Manhattan School of Music in Spring 2013 as part of their annual New Works Sampler.

Photo Credit: Gerry Goodstein

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