New Music Theatre Project Announces 2022 Commissions

New Music Theatre Project (Chris Dieman, Artistic Director) announces their 2022 commissions: a new musical by Andrew Porter and a new instrumental piece by Ariana Bell. Both world premieres will take place December 16th, 2022 at The National Opera Center in New York.

New Music Theatre Project (formerly known as Live Source) announces two new commissions: ARUBA, a new musical by composer and pianist Andrew Porter about the dark side of the American dream, and THE BARE MIND-IMUM a new piece for piano and violin by R&B pianist and singer Ariana Bell, dedicated to the stigma of mental health within the African American community.

"In ARUBA, a new one act musical about immigration, imposter syndrome and the dark side of the American dream, we follow Tony, a performer at a Aruban resort who moves to the United States with his sister Maria seeking out a better life. Quickly finding himself exploited by the greed of American capitalism, he grows increasingly hopeless, while his sister hatches a plan to save them from poverty. With a sensational jazz-centered but multi-genre score, ARUBA is about what happens when we try to leave town and break out, and the power of family."

"THE BARE MIND-IMUM probes the depths of our minds, contemporary R&B pianist and performer Ariana Bell tackles the intersectionality between anxiety and depression through an emotion evoking piece dedicated to the stigma of mental health within the African American community."

The world premiere of ARUBA and THE BARE MIND-IMUM will be December 16th 2022 at 2 and 7PM. Reservations will be required and will open up at a later date this Fall. For questions, please contact info@nmtp.nyc.

Brooklyn-based composer and saxophonist Andrew Porter is focused on finding new ways of storytelling and emotional expression through music and collaboration. A graduate from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, his compositional influences stem from his own background in Jazz, the beauty and lyricism of The Great American SongBook, as well as his love for Romantic Era and Impressionist composers, and these influences often make themselves present throughout his music. His credits as composer and sound designer include Blood Wedding (2017), A Cat, A Man, A Laundromat (2018), The Moors (2020), the devised play @muse_me (2021), and most recently The Glass Menagerie at the historic Glove Theatre (2021).

Ariana Bell, aka Ari Bellyboo, is a contemporary R&B musician that utilizes her background in classical music to bridge the gap between traditional and modern styles of music. She is also the owner and founder of an organization called Broadway Bellyboo, a community for BIPOC and marginalized creatives to actively share their art and network with one another as they strive towards creative freedom. Bell holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, where she studied classical piano. With piano being her primary instrument, she is constantly experimenting with ways to incorporate her classical roots into her current artistic creations to ensure that she reaches her audience and expresses herself to the best of her ability. Bell lives in Brooklyn.

New Music Theatre Project invests in developing work that explores the traditional and innovative ways in which music and theatre play together. We focus on commissioning and co-producing new music and theatre works based off of completely original ideas, and workshopping them through an intensive development process.

NMTP was founded by composer and performer Chris Dieman, and crystalized its focus during the pandemic. Core programs include the commissioning and development of new works of music and theatre, including but not limited to musical theatre, opera, instrumental ensembles, and plays featuring music. NMTP is a boutique company, customizing the development process according to the needs of each creator. We do not seek to self-produce our own work, but rather put our resources towards developing a piece of work thoroughly. We use our reputation in the industry to find partners for productions, ensuring the projects and artists we support succeed past their time in development with us.