The American Opera Project (AOP) is a professional opera company based in Brooklyn, New York City, and is a member of Opera America, the 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. AOP was founded in 1988 by 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.
Dog Days is an opera by David T. Little, to a libretto by Royce Vavrek after the short story by Judy Budnitz.
American Lyric Theater (ALT) is an opera company based in New York City and they specialize in the development of new works. It was founded by Lawrence Edelson in 2005.
Marnie Breckenridge is an American singer based out of New York City. She is a soprano performing opera, classical music, operetta and classical sacred music.
Pentatone is an international classical music label located in Baarn, Netherlands.
Missy Mazzoli is an American composer and pianist who is a member of the composition faculty at the Mannes College of Music. She has received critical acclaim for her chamber, orchestral and operatic work. In 2018 she became one of the first two women to receive a commission from the Metropolitan Opera House. She is the founder and keyboardist for Victoire, an electro-acoustic band dedicated to performing her music. From 2012-2015 she was composer-in-residence at Opera Philadelphia, in collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theater Group. Her music is published by G. Schirmer. Mazzoli received a 2015 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award, a Fulbright Grant to the Netherlands, and in 2018 was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Classical Composition. In 2018, Mazzoli was named for a two-season term as the Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mazzoli was named the Bragg Artist-in-Residence at Mount Allison University beginning in 2022.
The MATA Festival is a New York–based annual contemporary classical music festival devoted to championing the works of young composers. It was founded in 1996 by Philip Glass, Lisa Bielawa and Eleonor Sandresky and is currently under the leadership of executive director Pauline Kim Harris.
Kiera Duffy is an American opera singer born in Philadelphia. A soprano, Duffy is also an accomplished pianist. She has earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Westminster Choir College.
Michael McQuilken is an American, New York-based theater and opera director, filmmaker, and musician.
Paola Prestini is a composer of classical music. The New York Times referred to Prestini as "the enterprising composer and impresario" and a "human resources alchemist". In 2011, she was named one of the Top 100 Composers in the World under 40 by National Public Radio.
Breaking the Waves is an opera in three acts by Missy Mazzoli with a libretto by Royce Vavrek. It is based on the 1996 film of the same name by Danish auteur Lars von Trier. The opera was first performed on September 22, 2016, by Opera Philadelphia.
Steven Osgood is an American classical music conductor.
Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt is an opera in one act by Missy Mazzoli with a libretto by Royce Vavrek and Mazzoli. It is inspired by the life of Swiss explorer and writer Isabelle Eberhardt.
Abigail Fischer is an American mezzo-soprano.
Beth Morrison is an American producer of contemporary opera.
The Music Critics Association of North America gives an Award for Best New Opera annually to given to a composer and librettist.
Talise Trevigne is an American operatic soprano.
National Sawdust is a nonprofit music producer and venue in Brooklyn, New York with the goal of providing "composers and musicians across genres... a setting where they are given unprecedented support and critical resources essential to create and share their work." The organization is named after its building's original tenant, an early 20th century sawdust factory by the same name. It was founded in 2015 by composer Paola Prestini and attorney Kevin Dolan. Since then, National Sawdust has featured artists and ensembles including Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Nico Muhly, Yo La Tengo, Chris Thile, Pussy Riot, Caroline Polachek, Tanya Tagaq, Agnes Obel, Joan Tower, John Corigliano, the International Contemporary Ensemble, yMusic, Missy Mazzoli, Royce Vavrek, Du Yun, Karole Armitage, and Anthony Roth Costanzo.
Helga Davis is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist who works as an actress, singer, writer and composer, as well as a radio and podcast host.
