AN EVENING WITH THE COTERIE Features 13 Premieres by 13 Composers, 12/15

"An Evening with The Coterie", a night of thirteen musical theater and opera premieres, will be presented at the National Opera Center on December 15th at 7:30pm. The concert will feature soprano Lauren Worsham and lyrics by Royce Vavrek, co-founders of opera-theater company The Coterie, and two of the artists behind composer David T. Little's critically acclaimed opera "Dog Days", which premiered this September at Peak Performances @ Montclair.

Vavrek's words will be paired with the music of composers Joshua Schmidt ("Adding Machine", "A Minister's Wife"), Mel Marvin ("How the Grinch Stole Christmas"), Zach Redler ("The Memory Show"), Du Yun ("Zolle"), Conrad Winslow ("Camp Wanatachi"), Aaron Roche (iBlurMyEyes), Hannah Lash ("Blood Rose"), Matt Marks ("The Little Death, Volume 1"), Aaron Gervas ("The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G."), Jeff Myers ("Maren of Vardø"), Rachel Peters ("Only Children"), and Christine Donkin ("Magnificat"). The evening will feature a selection from David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's "Dog Days", the recently premiered opera that Steve Smith of The New York Times called "a taut, nuanced work that clawed beneath the surface of every situation."

Joining Lauren Worsham (City Center Encore's "Where's Charley?", New York City Opera's upcoming "The Turn of the Screw") are soprani Amelia Watkins and Cree Carrico, singer-songwriter Aaron Roche, and many of the original cast members of "Dog Days" including soprano Marnie Breckenridge, tenor Michael Marcotte, and mezzo-soprano Cherry Duke. Pianist Jennifer Hoppe, violinist Yuki Numata, and cellist Char Prescott comprise the evening's piano trio.

A limited number of tickets, priced $20 in advance, or $25 at the door, are available through Brown Paper Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/295383. The National Opera Center is located at 330 Seventh Avenue in New York City.

The Coterie (Lauren Worsham and Royce Vavrek, co-Artistic Directors; Eric Hurtig, Managing Director) creates new works of music theater that feature sophisticated scores and narratives that speak to a contemporary audience. Eager to cultivate an operatic vernacular for the 21st century, The Coterie does not shy away from amplification, provocative subject matter, or popular musical influence: the projects are classical music hybrids that often graft rock, pop, jazz, musical theater, and folk strands into their D.N.A. For more information, visit www.coteriedowntown.org.

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter-Keddy