FULL InsightALT Series New Operas Playlist 19 video clips New York 2013 – 2017 American Lyric Theater

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: InsightALT Series New Operas Playlist  
• Composer: see below  
• Libretto: see below  
• Venue & Opera Company: see below, New York City  
• Recorded: 2013 - 2017
• Type: Concert Live
• Singers: see below
• Conductor: see below  
• Orchestra:
• Stage Director:   
• Costume Designer:   

Information about the Recording

• Published by: ALTNYCGT  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

The Halloween Tree

Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury

Music by Theo Popov
Libretto by Tony Asaro

Commissioned by American Lyric Theater
Lawrence Edelson, Producing Artistic Director

Featuring, in order of appearance:

Brian Wallin, Tenor | Lenny
Shirin Eskandani, Mezzo-Soprano | Kelly
Jarrett Porter, Baritone | Tom
Michael Kelly, Baritone | J.J.
Emma Grimsley, Soprano | Lynn
Spencer Viator, Tenor | Pipkin
Mark S. Doss, Bass-Baritone | Moundshroud

Members of MasterVoices

Adam Turner, Conductor

Laurie Rogers, Chorus Master & Pianist
Gloria Kim, Rehearsal Pianist

“The Halloween Tree” has been made possible in part through commission underwriting by Anna DeSimone.

In Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, a group children set out to go trick-or-treating on Halloween, only to discover that their friend, Pipkin, has been whisked away on a journey that could determine whether he lives or dies. With the help of a mysterious character named Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud, they pursue their friend across time and time. Along the way, they learn the origins of the holiday that they celebrate, and the role that the fear of death, spooks, and the haunts has played in shaping civilization.

In cooperation with the estate of Ray Bradbury, American Lyric Theater commissioned composer Theo Popov and librettist Tony Asaro to write a full-length opera of The Halloween Tree for family audiences in 2015. Popov and Asaro are Resident Artists in ALT’s Composer Librettist Development Program, the only full-time training program for gifted emerging operatic writers in the country. Tonight’s InsightALT concert presentation of the opera is the culmination of an extensive workshop held by ALT this month.

“From Egypt to Mexico, from prehistory to modern day, the epic journey the children in The Halloween Tree undertake in their search for their friend Pipkin manages to combine the light humor of Alice in Wonderland with the adventurous narrative of the Odyssey and
the moral underpinning of A Christmas Carol. A spoonful of mystery and a carefully measured cup of magic are the last ingredients that make this story universally exciting.”
-Theo Popov and Tony Asaro
————————————————————————————————————–

LA REINA

Music by Jorge Sosa
Libretto by Laura Sosa Pedroza and Jorge Sosa

Commissioned by American Lyric Theater
Lawrence Edelson, Producing Artistic Director

Co-presented as part of InsightALT and the PROTOTYPE Festival by French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and American Lyric Theater

January 17, 2016 | French Institute Alliance Française (NYC)

SYNOPSIS
Regina, a character inspired by Sandra Ávila Beltrán known as “The Queen of the Pacific,” prays in an American prison cell, asking the patron saint of drug dealers, to protect her. Suddenly, the shrine comes to life. La Santa Muerte guides Regina on a journey through her past, forcing her to relive the tragic sequences of death and treason that led to her crowning as the queen of organized crime, and ultimately, her downfall and imprisonment.

CONDUCTOR
David Alan Miller

FEATURING
Audrey Babcock as REGINA
Laura Claycomb as LA SANTA MUERTE

ORCHESTRA
Tom Chiu, Violin
Kristi Helberg, Violin
Hannah Levinson, Viola
Alice Yoo, Cello
Greg Chudzik, Bass
Roberta Michel, Flute /Piccolo
Michele Farrah, Oboe / English Horn
Eileen Mack, Clarinet / Bass Clarinet
Nanci Belmont, Bassoon / Contrabasson
Andy Kozar, Trumpet
William Lang, Trombone
Mila Henry, Piano / Keyboards
Chihiro Shibayma, Percussion
Jeffrey Dennis Smith, Laptop

SPECIAL THANKS
The developmental workshop of “La Reina” and the InsightALT concert have been supported by generous grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, OPERA America’s Opera Fund, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Composer Jorge Sosa’s residency in the 2015-16 Season of the Composer Librettist Development Program has been generously sponsored by Lois Conway.
——————————————————————————————————-

JFK

by David T. Little and Royce Vavrek

Commissioned by Fort Worth Opera and American Lyric Theater

Presented as part of the InsightALT series by American Lyric Theater,
in partnership with Fort Worth Opera.

November 25, 2014 | Merkin Concert Hall (NYC)

ABOUT THE OPERA
Commissioned by Fort Worth Opera, American Lyric Theater, and Opéra de Montréal, JFK is based on the final twelve hours of the 35th president’s life and time spent in Fort Worth, Texas. JFK marks the first joint project for the creative team of composer David T. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek following their critically acclaimed chamber opera Dog Days (2012). JFK will receive its world premiere in 2016 as part of FWOpera’s 70th Anniversary Season.

Featuring:
Matthew Worth (Baritone) as John F. Kennedy, President of the United States
Daniela Mack (Mezzo Soprano) as Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, The First Lady
Talise Trevigne (Soprano) as Clara Harris / Clotho, the spinner, present as a hotel maid
Sean Panikkar (Tenor) as Henry Rathbone / Lachesis, the allotter, present as Secret Service
Daniel Okulitch (Bass Baritone) as Lyndon Baines Johnson, Vice President of the United States
Cree Carrico (Soprano) as Rosemary Kennedy, Jack’s sister
Peter Tantsits (Tenor) as Nikita Khruschev, Prime Minister of the Soviet Union
Katharine Goeldner (Mezzo Soprano) as Jackie Onassis, a dream manifestation near the end of her life

Steven Osgood, Conductor
Chuck Prestinari, Chorus Master
Djordje S. Nesic, Piano
Jody Schum, Piano

MASTERVOICES (previously known as The Collegiate Choral)
SOPRANOS: Heidi Best, Fatima Cadet-Diaby, Gabriella Campos, Becca Hare, Joan Harris, Sophia Hunt, Amy Justman, Julie Morgan, Katie Reid, Bonnie Rosenberg
ALTOS: Jennifer Collins, Lauren Tucker Cross, Chloe Graef, Lisa Gwasda, Vivianne Potter, Suzanne Schwing, Nancy Wertsch
TENORS: Francisco Corredor, Joseph Demarest, Ethan Fran, Cathy Friedman, Rob James, Louis Riva
David Salyers, Garrett Taylor
BASS: James Gregory, Shea Kastriner, Steven Kirby, Sam Rachmuth, Bob Rainier, Michael Riley, Mark Spergel, Sean Sullivan

SPECIAL THANKS
The developmental workshop of JFK and public preview event were made possible by generous grants from OPERA America/The Opera Fund, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
———————————————————————————————————

THE LONG WALK

Music by Jeremy Howard Beck
Libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann
Based on the memoir by Brian Castner

Developmental Workshop Produced by American Lyric Theater in NYC (June 2014)

World Premiere to be Produced by Opera Saratoga in July 2015

Cast (World Premiere Cast featured in this workshop video)
Daniel Belcher, baritone
David Blalock, tenor
Javier Abreu, tenor
Justin Hopkins, bass baritone
Caroline Worra, soprano
Donita Volkwijn, soprano

Brian runs in Buffalo, New York, to keep “the Crazy” at bay. Ricky, his friend and running companion (who we learn is a ghost only at the end of the opera), reminds him of what’s precious in the here and now via the parable of the marbles. But Brian, terrified of Jessie’s grandfather’s fate — that of dying at home, in retrospect, of invisible wounds afflicted by the war — can’t stop trying to outrun the Crazy. As he runs, images of war, sonic shards, invade his consciousness. Screaming Iraqi women won’t stop screaming; EOD calls (to defuse bombs) relentlessly keep coming in; boundaries between realities break down. Brian runs from these memories straight into a full-blown memory of Iraq—an encounter with a small crowd of Iraqi women grieving for their murdered children at the site of an explosion, their keening so powerful that Brian comes close to shooting them just to quiet them. Iraq falls away. Brian is at home, confronting himself in the mirror, gun in hand. He sits at the top of the stairs through the night, guarding his sleeping children in the aria which closes the act.
—————————————————————————————-

WHY IS EARTHA KITT TRYING TO KILL ME?: A LOVE STORY

Music by JEFFREY DENNIS SMITH
Libretto by DAVID JOHNSTON

Developed under the auspices of American Lyric Theater’s
Composer Librettist Development Program

KEITH JAMESON, Tenor

KYLE MAXWELL DOHERTY, Percussion
TOM CHIU, Violin
MARIEL ROBERTS, Cello
BRENDON RANDALL-MYERS, Guitar
DJORDJE NESIC, Piano
MARC SCHMIED, Bass
DIEGO VASQUEZ, Clarinet

Conducted by BRIAN DEMARIS

“Why is Eartha Kitt Trying to Kill Me?: A Love Story” is a new one-act opera, by composer Jeffrey Dennis Smith and librettist David Johnston, about a mysterious – and unlikely – murder suspect. A tour de force love story and mad scene all in one, a man shares his bizarre confession concerning the fate of a hot, young, art world star. Smith’s score blends elements of jazz with an edgy contemporary sound, creating an energy that propels the story forward. Written for tenor Keith Jameson, the opera is scored for a chamber ensemble of seven players and is 45 minutes in length.

Recorded: January 11, 2015 at (le) poisson rouge.

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)