# American Opera Project

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/American_Opera_Project
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/American_Opera_Project.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Opera_Project
> Source revision: 1341934659
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Opera company based in New York City}}
'''The American Opera Project''' (AOP)<ref>{{Cite web |title=AOP |url=https://www.aopopera.org/ |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=AOP |language=en-US}}</ref> is a professional opera company based in [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn), New York City, and is a member of [Opera America](/source/Opera_America), the [Fort Greene](/source/Fort_Greene) Association, the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance, and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./NY). The company's primary mission is to develop and present new operatic and music theatre works and has gained a reputation for the "rarefied range" of the projects it fosters (Opera News, Dec 2008). AOP was founded in 1988 by [Grethe Barrett Holby](/source/Grethe_Barrett_Holby) who served as Artistic Director of AOP from 1988 until 2001, at which point Charles Jarden became the company's Executive Director and Steven Osgood the company's Artistic Director. Steven Osgood left the post of Artistic Director in 2008 to pursue conducting full-time but remains the Artistic Director for AOP's "Composers & the Voice" program. 

thumb|upright=1.3|Scene from a performance of ''Independence Eve'' in 2015
AOP's year-long writing fellowship, "Composers & the Voice" was created in 2002 to bring emerging operatic composers and librettists together with singers, directors, and other artists to create a series of pieces exploring the potential of theatre and the voice. Past and present mentors for the program include [Mark Adamo](/source/Mark_Adamo), [Mark Campbell](/source/Mark_Campbell_(librettist)), [John Corigliano](/source/John_Corigliano), [Tan Dun](/source/Tan_Dun), [Daron Hagen](/source/Daron_Hagen), [Jake Heggie](/source/Jake_Heggie), [Libby Larsen](/source/Libby_Larsen), [John Musto](/source/John_Musto), [Tobias Picker](/source/Tobias_Picker), [Kaija Saariaho](/source/Kaija_Saariaho), and [Stephen Schwartz](/source/Stephen_Schwartz). Past participants include Clint Borzoni, David Claman, [Conrad Cummings](/source/Conrad_Cummings), Randall Eng, Renée Favand, [Vivian Fung](/source/Vivian_Fung), [Kristin Kuster](/source/Kristin_Kuster), [Hannah Lash](/source/Hannah_Lash), Gilda Lyons, [Robert Paterson](/source/Robert_Paterson_(composer)), Jack Perla, [http://www.zachredler.com Zach Redler] & Sara Cooper, [Daniel Sonenberg](/source/Daniel_Sonenberg) and [Alex Weiser](/source/Alex_Weiser).

Amongst the venues and festivals where AOP productions have appeared are the [Lincoln Center Festival](/source/Lincoln_Center), BAM's Next Wave Festival, the [Guggenheim Museum](/source/Solomon_R._Guggenheim_Museum), [Symphony Space](/source/Symphony_Space), [Irondale Center](/source/Irondale_Center), [Philadelphia's Annenberg Center](/source/Annenberg_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts), [Pittsburgh Opera](/source/Pittsburgh_Opera), the [U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum](/source/U.S._Holocaust_Memorial_Museum), London's [Royal Opera House](/source/Royal_Opera_House), Berlin's Stükke Theater, Aleksander Fredro Teatr in Poland, the [Trondheim Chamber Music Festival](/source/Trondheim_Chamber_Music_Festival) in Norway, and the {{Interlanguage link|Ensemble Theater am Petersplatz|de|3=Ensemble Theater Wien}} in Vienna. It has also given many out-of-doors performances sponsored by the City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation. AOP won a 2005 Encore award from the Arts & Business Council of New York for its innovative work.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.operaprojects.org/aboutAOP.htm |title=American Opera Projects |publisher=Operaprojects.org |date= |access-date=2014-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727014450/http://operaprojects.org/aboutAOP.htm |archive-date=2014-07-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Operas and other works developed with AOP==

===World premieres===
* ''[As One](/source/As_One_(opera))'' by [Laura Kaminsky](/source/Laura_Kaminsky), Mark Campbell, and Kimberly Reed (BAM Fisher Center, September 4, 2014)
* ''Beauty Intolerable'' by [Sheila Silver](/source/Sheila_Silver) with texts by [Edna St. Vincent Millay](/source/Edna_St._Vincent_Millay) (Symphony Space, June 8, 2013)
* ''Before Night Falls'' by [Jorge Martin](/source/Jorge_Mart%C3%ADn_(composer)) and [Dolores M. Koch](/source/Dolores_M._Koch) (Fort Worth Opera, May 29, 1010)
* ''Brooklyn Bones'' by [Alvin Singleton](/source/Alvin_Singleton) and [Patricia Hampl](/source/Patricia_Hampl) (November 15, 2008)
* ''Brooklyn Cinderella'' by [Nkeiru Okoye](/source/Nkeiru_Okoye) (Dweck Auditorium, June 21, 2011)
* ''Darkling'' by [Stefan Weisman](/source/Stefan_Weisman) and [Anna Rabinowitz](/source/Anna_Rabinowitz) (East 13th Street Theater, February 26, 2006)
* ''Fade'' by Stefan Weisman and [David Cote](/source/David_Cote_(writer)) (NYC PREMIERE at Galapagos Art Space, July 17, 2009)
* ''Fireworks'' by [Kitty Brazelton](/source/Kitty_Brazelton) and [Billy Aronson](/source/Billy_Aronson) (July 2, 2002)
* ''Flurry Tale'' by [Rusty Magee](/source/Rusty_Magee) and Billy Aronson, with commissioned orchestrations by John Rinehimer (Clark Studio Theater, December 18, 1999)
* ''Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom'' by Nkeiru Okoye (Irondale Center, February 21, 2014)
* ''[Heart of Darkness](/source/Heart_of_Darkness_(opera))'' by [Tarik O'Regan](/source/Tarik_O'Regan) and [Tom Phillips](/source/Tom_Phillips_(artist)) (Covent Garden, November 1, 2011)
* ''Judgment of Midas'' by [Kamran Ince](/source/Kamran_Ince) and Miriam Seidel ([Milwaukee Opera Theatre](/source/Milwaukee_Opera_Theatre), February 12, 2013)
* ''L'abbe Agathon'' by [Arvo Pärt](/source/Arvo_P%C3%A4rt) and Tarik O'Regan (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, January 11, 2009)
* ''Love/Hate'' by Jack Perla and Rob Bailis (San Francisco Opera Center, April 2012)
* ''Marina: A Captive Spirit'' by [Deborah Drattell](/source/Deborah_Drattell) and [Annie Finch](/source/Annie_Finch) (May 1, 2003)
* ''Model Love'' by J. David Jackson based on poems by [Henry Normal](/source/Henry_Normal) (Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, October 2, 2011)
* ''Nora, in the Great Outdoors'' by [Daniel Felsenfeld](/source/Daniel_Felsenfeld) and [Will Eno](/source/Will_Eno) (Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, October 2, 2011)
* ''Out Cold'' by [Phil Kline](/source/Phil_Kline) (BAM Fisher, October 25, 2012)
* ''[Patience and Sarah](/source/Patience_and_Sarah_(opera))'' by Paula M. Kimper and Wende Persons (John Jay College Theater, July 8, 1998)
* ''Paul's Case'' by [Gregory Spears](/source/Gregory_Spears) and Kathryn Walat (Artisphere, April 20, 2013)
* ''Romulus'' by Louis Karchin (Guggenheim Museum, May 20, 2007)
* ''Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' by [Stephen Schwartz](/source/Stephen_Schwartz) (NYC PREMIERE at New York City Opera, April 19, 2011)
* ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' by [Richard Peaslee](/source/Richard_Peaslee) and Kenneth Cavander (October 18, 2001)
* ''State of the Jews'' by [Alex Weiser](/source/Alex_Weiser) and Ben Kaplan (Streicker Cultural Center, January 15, 2025)
* ''The Blind'' by [Lera Auerbach](/source/Lera_Auerbach) (Lincoln Center. July 9, 2013)
* ''The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language'' by [Alex Weiser](/source/Alex_Weiser) and Ben Kaplan (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, September 18, 2025)
* ''The Scarlet Ibis'' by Stefan Weisman and David Cote (HERE Arts Center, January 15, 2015)
* ''This is the Rill Speaking'' by [Lee Hoiby](/source/Lee_Hoiby) and [Lanford Wilson](/source/Lanford_Wilson) (Purchase College Opera, April 26, 2008)
* ''Tone Test'' by [Nick Brooke](/source/Nick_Brooke) (Lincoln Center, July 22, 2004)
* ''Windows'' by Zach Redler and Sara Cooper (NYU, March 23, 2013)

===Works developed/in development===
* ''1000 Splendid Suns'' by Sheila Silver and Stephen Kitsakas
* ''African Tales'' by Nkeiru Okoye and Carman Moore
* ''Alice in the Time of the Jabberwock'' by [Daniel Felsenfeld](/source/Daniel_Felsenfeld) and [Robert Coover](/source/Robert_Coover)
* ''Companionship'' by Rachel Peters
* ''Decoration'' by Mikael Karlsson and David Floden
* ''Eichmann in Jerusalem'' by [Mohammed Fairouz](/source/Mohammed_Fairouz) and David Shapiro
* ''Heinrich Heine: Doppelganger'' by Jacob Engel, Paula Kimper, and Nino Sandow
* ''Henry's Wife'' by Randall Eng and Alexis Bernier
* ''Independence Eve'' by Sidney Marquez Boquiren and Daniel Neer
* ''Lost Childhood'' by Janice Hamer and Mary Azrael (staged workshop premiere at Tel Aviv-Yafo Music Center, July 29, 2007)
* ''Marymere'' by Matt Schickele
* ''Memoirs of Uliana Rooney'' by [Vivian Fine](/source/Vivian_Fine) and [Sonya Friedman](/source/Sonya_Friedman)
* ''Mila'' by [Andrea Clearfield](/source/Andrea_Clearfield), [Jean-Claude van Itallie](/source/Jean-Claude_van_Itallie), and [Lois Walden](/source/Lois_Walden)
* ''Numinous City'' by [Pete M. Wyer](/source/Pete_M._Wyer) and [Melissa Salmons](/source/Melissa_Salmons)
* ''Our Basic Nature'' by John Glover and Kelley Rourke
* ''Prairie Dogs'' by Rachel Peters and [Royce Vavrek](/source/Royce_Vavrek)
* ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' by Herschel Garfein
* ''Semmelweis'' by Raymond J. Lustig and Matt Gray
* ''Sharon's Grave'' by Richard Wargo, based on the play be [John B. Keane](/source/John_B._Keane)
* ''Tesla in New York'' by Phil Kline and [Jim Jarmusch](/source/Jim_Jarmusch)
* ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' by Paula M. Kimper
* ''The Companion'' by [Robert Paterson](/source/Robert_Paterson_(composer)) and David Cote
* ''The Family Room'' by [Thomas Pasatieri](/source/Thomas_Pasatieri) and Daphne Malfitano
* ''The Golden Gate'' by [Conrad Cummings](/source/Conrad_Cummings), based on novel by [Vikram Seth](/source/Vikram_Seth)
* ''The Leopard'' by [Michael Dellaira](/source/Michael_Dellaira) and [J.D. McClatchy](/source/J.D._McClatchy)
* ''[The Summer King](/source/The_Summer_King_(opera))'' by [Daniel Sonenberg](/source/Daniel_Sonenberg)
* ''The Walled-Up Wife'' by Gilda Lyons
* ''The Wanton Sublime'', formerly ''The Woven Child'', by Tarik O'Regan and Anna Rabinowitz (NYC premiere at Roulette, April 22, 2014)
* ''The Weeping Camel'' by [Huang Ruo](/source/Huang_Ruo) and Candace Chong
* ''Three Way'' by [Robert Paterson](/source/Robert_Paterson_(composer)) and David Cote
* ''Ugetsu'' by Michael Rose and Emily Howard
* ''Unruly Horses'' based on the life and songs of [Vladimir Vysotsky](/source/Vladimir_Vysotsky), conceived by Mina Yakim and Moni Yakim, with additional book by [Peter Kellogg](/source/Peter_Kellogg_(writer))
* ''Wolf-in-Skins'', formerly ''The Lost Lais of Albion'', by [Gregory Spears](/source/Gregory_Spears), choreographed by Christopher Williams

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*[Kozinn, Allan](/source/Allan_Kozinn) (December 9, 1990). [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/09/arts/review-music-new-work-by-american-opera-projects.html "New Work by American Opera Projects"]. ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'' 
*Kozinn, Allan (May 6, 2003). [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/06/arts/in-performance-classical-music-an-operatic-treatment-of-a-russian-poet-s-despair.html "An Operatic Treatment Of a Russian Poet's Despair"]. ''The New York Times''
*[Ross, Alex](/source/Alex_Ross_(music_critic)) (April 24, 1993). [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/24/arts/review-music-american-operas-in-progress.html "American Operas in Progress"]. ''The New York Times'' 
*Singer, Barry (December 2008). [http://www.operanews.com/operanews/templates/content.aspx?id=3474 "Risky Business "]. ''[Opera News](/source/Opera_News)'', Vol. 73, No. 6

==External links==
*{{official|https://www.aopopera.org/}}

{{Portal bar|Opera}}
{{authority control}}

Category:New York City opera companies
Category:Musical groups established in 1988
Category:1988 establishments in New York City

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [American Opera Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Opera_Project) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Opera_Project?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.