New York City Opera's acclaimed VOX: Showcasing American Opera series marks its 10th anniversary on Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South) at New York University. New York City Opera's annual VOX series demonstrates the company's commitment to the development of American opera, giving a free-of-charge platform to new or previously unperformed American operas. The final excerpt presented on Saturday, May 2, will mark the 100th opera presented by VOX.
From animation films to politics and musical theater, VOX 2009 brings together composers and librettists from highly diverse musical and cultural backgrounds. Eight new operas were chosen from a pool of some eighty submissions. These include: the first opera from the highly-acclaimed musical theater and film composer Stephen Schwartz, Séance on a Wet Afternoon; Armide, a passionate political tale of Iraq in 2019, by Jonathan Dawe, the youngest composer ever to be commissioned by James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and A Bird in Your Ear by David Bruce, originally commissioned by Dawn Upshaw for the Graduate Vocal Arts program at Bard College.
Also to be featured this year, for the first time, is VOX: SECOND LOOK, a new initiative designed to revisit operas previously performed at VOX. VOX 2009 will present fresh excerpts from Gordon Beeferman's The Rat Land (VOX 2007) and Anne LeBaron's Crescent City (VOX 2006), charting their progress since they were first presented at the festival.
"It is my pleasure to be a part of the growing success of New York City Opera's VOX: Showcasing American Opera. The role the festival has taken nationally in creating a platform for discovering new American opera has been incomparable. The 10th Anniversary brings a festival with amazing works that show the tremendous potential and diversity of our composers and point to a bright future for new opera", says George Steel, New York City Opera General Manager and Artistic Director.
In nine seasons of presenting VOX, New York City Opera has showcased excerpts from over 90 new operas, more than 30 of which have gone on to full productions at companies across the country. The last four contemporary operas produced by City Opera-Mark Adamo's Little Women, Charles Wuorinen's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Adamo's Lysistrata, and last season's production of Richard Danielpour's Margaret Garner-had all been showcased at VOX. Other operas featured in VOX have enjoyed world premieres at companies including Nashville Opera (Elmer Gantry by Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein), Houston Grand Opera (Little Women), Los Angeles Opera (Deborah Drattell's Nicholas and Alexandra), Washington National Opera (Scott Wheeler's Democracy), Santa Fe Opera (Bright Sheng's Madame Mao) and Michigan Opera Theater (Margaret Garner).
All selections will be performed by New York City Opera soloists and accompanied by the City Opera Orchestra, led by Music Director George Manahan and other conductors. For the first time, the New York City Opera Chorus will also participate in several VOX selections.
Tickets
FREE
Limited availability. Reservations begin Friday, April 3 online at: www.vox-nyco.com
Schedule for VOX 2009
Friday, May 1
5:00pm
Roundtable Discussion: All 11 of the composers featured in VOX 2009
Moderator: Yuval Sharon, VOX Project Director
7:00-8:10pm
Katrina Ballads
Music and Libretto by Ted Hearne
Using primary-source texts from politicians including George Bush and celebrities like Kanye West, Katrina Ballads explores the aftermath of the hurricane in a stylistically diverse musical setting.
Ted Hearne is an active composer, conductor and performer of new music in the New York and Chicago areas. He is the Artistic Director of the nonprofit organization Yes is a World and was named composer-in-residence of the Chicago Children's Choir in 2003. He recently received a master's degree from the Yale School of Music.
"A sophisticated composer with a songwriter's instincts."
- Charleston Post and Courier
No Easy Walk to Freedom
Music and Libretto by Chandler Carter
A chamber opera based on The Life of Nelson Mandela, focusing on his 27-year imprisonment and his subsequent election as President of South Africa. Scenes from his life alternate with music and dance indigenous to South Africa.
