Opera America Announces Details of NEW OPERA SHOWCASE, Today

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, announces the details for the New Opera Showcase, taking place on Friday, January 13 at 8:00 p.m. at historic Town Hall in the heart of New York City's Times Square. The Showcase offers artists, producers and audiences a unique opportunity to hear some of the most exciting operas being composed today.

This special one-night-only concert features excerpts from five new operas currently in development, selected by an independent panel of industry experts. Joining the vocalists onstage will be SONOS Chamber Orchestra and Choral Chameleon, featuring Erik Ochsner, music director.

Audience members will be among the first to hear these powerful new works:

Rated R for Rat by Wang Jie (composer and librettist)

Charlotte Salomon: Der Tod und Die Malerin (Death and the Painter)
by Michelle DiBucci (composer)

Machine by Rene Orth (composer) and Jason Kim (librettist)

Before the Night Sky by Randall Eng (composer) and Donna Di Novelli (librettist)

The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare
by JulIan Grant (composer) and Mark Campbell (librettist)

In addition to experiencing these new works for the first time, the audience will hear performances from some of today's brightest vocalists, including Joseph Bellino, Keith Browning, Heather Buck, Andrew Cook-Feltz, Evan Crawford, Blythe Gaissert, Clare Maloney, Nick Masters, Liam Moran, Brenda Patterson, Vale Rideout, Amy Shoremount-Obra, Michael Slattery, Chad Sloan, Amy Marie Stewart, Nian Wang, Jorell Williams, Lauren Worsham and Olivia Yokers.

"The New Opera Showcase is a rare and invaluable event for the entire opera community - composers, librettists, performers, producers and audiences alike," stated OPERA America President/CEO Marc A. Scorca. "Composers often don't have the opportunity to hear their work with orchestra until they are in rehearsals before the premiere, and by then, it's too late to make adjustments. Presenting these excerpts in a public performance gives the composers immediate feedback from the audience, which they might not otherwise have until opening night. The performances with orchestra also benefit opera producers by enabling them to hear the composers' full sonic landscapes in a way that simply reading a score cannot," Scorca continued. "For audiences, the New Opera Showcase is a very special experience. Most people only hear an opera once the work is fully realized, so the Showcase is a unique chance to experience the creative process."

OPERA America has a long tradition of directly fostering the creation and development of new works. Over the past 30 years, OPERA America's Opera Fund has provided grants totaling over $13 million to assist companies with producing new operas.

The New Opera Showcase takes place as a component of OPERA America's New Works Forum, the preeminent convening for creators and producers of contemporary American opera, taking place January 11 to 14 at OPERA America's National Opera Center. Over 100 field leaders will participate in four days of presentations, panel debates, facilitated discussions and performances of works in progress. In addition to the New Opera Showcase, the public is welcome to join the Forum for a performance of The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing by Justine F. Chen and David Simpatico, presented by American Lyric Theater on January 12 at Merkin Concert Hall. Performances that are open only to Forum attendees include operamission's When Adonis Calls by Clint Borzoni and John de los Santos; Opera on Tap's 360-degree virtual reality opera The Parksville Murders by Kamala Sankaram and Jerre Dye, sponsored by WeLens; and Minnesota Opera's Dinner at Eight by William Bolcom and Mark Campbell.

EVENT INFORMATION

Date/Time:

Friday, January 13, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.

Location:

The Town Hall

123 West 43rd Street

New York, NY 10036

Tickets:

$25 (general admission)

$10 (OPERA America members)

To purchase tickets or for more information about the New Opera Showcase, visit operaamerica.org/Showcase.

The New Opera Showcase is made possible by generous and deeply appreciaTed Grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, and The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation.

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