American Lyric Theater Launches 2016-17 Season Featuring Three New Operas

American Lyric Theater (ALT) - founded by Lawrence Edelson in 2005 to build a new body of operatic repertoire by nurturing composers and librettists and providing an incubator for their collaborations - announces its 2016-2017 Season. The season begins with the InsightALT series, providing an insider's look at how new operas are made, featuring concert readings of operas in development at ALT, including The Halloween Tree, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant. The season concludes with the return of the critically acclaimed ALT Alumni: Composers & Librettists in Concert, celebrating the success of prominent alumni of American Lyric Theater's innovative Composer Librettist Development Program. Tickets are available at www.altnyc.org.

"This season, we are very excited to share three exciting new operas being developed under the auspices of the Composer Librettist Development Program at ALT, as well as to showcase the work of our alumni who are creating new operas for companies across the country," stated Edelson. "These operas range from an adaptation of a classic Ray Bradbury novel for family audiences, to a historical fantasia on one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the 20th Century. We are looking forward to building upon our relationships with Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Concert Hall and MasterVoices for the presentation of our InsightALT series; and to our new partnership with the Morgan Library & Museum to present our Alumni concert in Gilder Lehrman Concert Hall. Through these partnerships, more audiences than ever before will be able to get a glimpse behind the process of creating new operas, and enjoy some of the most exciting new works being written today."

"The essential contemporary opera lab." - The New Yorker

AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER'S 2016-2017 SEASON:

InsightALT

Presented by American Lyric Theater and Kaufman Music Center at Merkin Concert Hall

The InsightALT series provides an insider's look at how new operas are made. Each event features a concert reading of a new opera in development at American Lyric Theater, with guest singers from the world's leading opera houses, followed by a discussion with the composer and librettist of each work, moderated by ALT's Founder and Producing Artistic Director, Lawrence Edelson.

The Halloween Tree

Presented in partnership with MasterVoices

October 30, 2016 at 3pm

Location: Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center - 129 W. 67th Street, New York, NY

Based on Ray Bradbury's classic novel that explores the origins of Halloween, composer Theo Popov and librettist Tony Asaro take us on an epic journey as a group of children search for their friend Pipkin who has mysteriously disappeared on Halloween night. Conductor: Adam Turner. Featuring: Emma Grimsley, Shirin Eskandani, Brian Wallin, Michael Kelly, and Jarrett Porter with members of MasterVoices.

The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing

Presented in partnership with MasterVoices

January 12, 2017 at 7:30pm

Location: Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center - 129 W. 67th Street, New York, NY

With music by Justine F. Chen and libretto by David Simpatico, this opera is a historical-fantasia inspired by the life of the groundbreaking computer scientist, Alan Turing. Conductor: Lidiya Yankovskaya. Featuring Jonathan Michie as Alan Turing, with Keely Futterer, Elise Quagliata Andrew Bidlack, Jack Swanson,Joseph Beutel and Thomas Shivone, with members of MasterVoices.

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant

March 26, 2017 at 3pm

Location: Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center - 129 W. 67th Street, New York, NY

A mash-up honoring the classic detective stories of Sherlock Holmes in a romp through a fairy tale world to solve a mystery unlike any Holmes and Watson have encountered before. With a playful libretto by E.M Lewis and mysterious score by Evan Meier, the game's afoot! Conductor: Ari Pelto. Featuring: Sharleen Joynt, Jennifer Black, Steven Eddy, and David Kravitz.

The 2016-2017 season will conclude in April with ALT Alumni: Composers & Librettists in Concert, presented by American Lyric Theater and The Morgan Library & Museum. This concert celebrates the success of prominent alumni of American Lyric Theater's innovative Composer Librettist Development Program, singers from the country's leading opera houses perform excerpts of recently premiered operas and works in development.

ALT Alumni: Composers & Librettists in Concert

Presented by American Lyric Theater and The Morgan Library & Museum

April 23, 2017 at 3pm

Location: Morgan Library & Museum in the Gilder Lehrman Hall - 225 Madison Ave, New York, NY

Excerpts from JFK by David T. Little and Royce Vavrek*, After the Storm by David Hanlon and Stephanie Fleischmann*, Steal a Pencil for Me by Gerald Cohen* and Deborah Brevoort*, and The Copper Queen by Clint Borzoni* and John de los Santos.(*denotes CLDP alumni)

ABOUT AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER

Great Operas Don't Just Happen. American Lyric Theater (ALT) was founded in 2005 by Lawrence Edelson to build a new body of operatic repertoire by nurturing composers and librettists, providing an incubator for their collaborations, and contributing new works to the national canon. 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 focus is 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 2012, ALT was the first company dedicated to artist mentorship rather than operatic production to be recognized by OPERA America as a Professional Company Member - a testament to ALT's service to the field. For more information about American Lyric Theater, please visit www.altnyc.org.

American Lyric Theater's mentorship programs for composers and librettists are supported by lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts; and additional funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, The Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, The Amphion Foundation, The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Friars Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation, New Music USA's Impact Fund, and OPERA America / The Opera Fund.

ABOUT MERKIN CONCERT HALL AT KAUFMAN MUSIC CENTER

Kaufman Music Center is New York's go-to place for music education and performance.
It's where music lovers, from curious fans to renowned performers, come together to explore their musical passions. Founded in 1952 as a community music school, today's Kaufman Music Center is home to Merkin Concert Hall; Lucy Moses School, New York's largest community arts school; and Special Music School, a K-12 public school for musically gifted children. www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/MCH/

ABOUT THE MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM

A complex of buildings in the heart of New York City, the Morgan Library & Museum began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of the preeminent collectors and cultural benefactors in the United States. Today it is a museum, independent research library, musical venue, architectural landmark, and historic site. A century after its founding, the Morgan maintains a unique position in the cultural life of New York City and is considered one of its greatest treasures. With the 2006 reopening of its newly renovated campus, designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, and the 2010 refurbishment of the original library, the Morgan reaffirmed its role as an important repository for the history, art, and literature of Western civilization from 4000 B.C. to the twenty-first century. For more information, visit www.themorgan.org.

ABOUT MASTERVOICES

MasterVoices brings "musical storytelling" to concert halls and other performance venues, crossing many genres of music: classical, Broadway, opera, operetta, and new, unclassifiable repertoire. Building upon The Collegiate Chorale's preeminent reputation for compelling interpretations of the traditional choral repertoire, vocal works by American composers, and rarely heard operas-in-concert, commissions and premieres, MasterVoices provides events that bring together many of the best stars from opera and musical theater, along with today's top composers, librettists, designers and conductors. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Ted Sperling, last season's programs included Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, starring Deborah Voigt; and a pairing of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with a new prologue by Michael John LaChiusa, starring Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark. MasterVoices will open its 75th Anniversary Season with the New York Premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, an opera that explores the relationship between Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, who hosted regular salon evenings at their Paris home at 27 Rue de Fleurus. The opera will feature Stephanie Blythe as Stein and Heidi Stober as Toklas. Performances are October 20-21 at New York City Center. For more information, visit www.mastervoices.org.

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