The Theatre Times: American Lyric Theater’s mission is to build a new body of operatic repertoire for new audiences by nurturing composers and librettists, developing sustainable artistic collaborations, and contributing new works to the national canon. But, it all starts with the artists. ALT is home to the only full-time professional mentorship program for emerging opera composers and librettists in the country. We are an incubator for gifted operatic writers – an artistic home where composers and librettists can hone their skills, foster collaborations, and develop new works with support from diverse experts in the field.
2 comments:
I love the idea of making opera that modern audiences can interact with. I personally like listening and studying operas, but then again, I have been called on multiple occasions a band nerd. I remember many of my friends telling me that they had fallen asleep during the Magic Flute. Die Zauberflote is so iconic that it did make me sad that they had missed their opportunity to see it for free. Maybe more modern operas can convince the more opera adverse population to give opera a shot. Edelson is right, that there are many programs for young singers and young designers (Carnegie Mellon has both), but not many for young opera librettists or composers (I think CMU has programs for music composition, but none for librettists as far as I am aware). I think it would be a great idea to introduce such a program if not in the school of drama then in the school of music.
It is a great news that American Lyric Theater is investing in cultivating the next generation of Opera artists, and thereby creating more and new contents for the genre. It must be equivalent to big corporations investing in R&D department, and can contribute to future survival of Opera industry. Considering that a lot of opera companies are focused on remounting or re-producing known works of the past, giving the opportunity and space to the emerging new artists, especially composers and librettists from a company with big influence, like American Lyric Theater could certainly turn the tide around. In the sense, it is amazing to me what a person's leadership and vision can do to one industry. Of course there has to be organizational support and power to implement the vision, but in the case of American Lyric Theater, the vision is endorsed with appropriate resources. I wish more people with strong vision and idea would rise up to the top and make the needed changes so the industry can boom again.
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