American Lyric Theater Announces 2016-2017 Season Featuring Three New Operas in Development

  • The Halloween Tree - Based on the Novel by Ray Bradbury

Music by Theo Popov; Libretto by Tony Asaro

  • The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing

Music by Justine F. Chen; Libretto by David Simpatico

  • Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant

Music by Evan Meier; Libretto by E.M. Lewis

American Lyric Theater (ALT) - founded by Lawrence Edelson in 2005 to build a new body of operatic repertoire by nurturing composers and librettists and providing an incubator for their collaborations - announces its 2016-2017 Season. The season begins with the InsightALT series, providing an insider's look at how new operas are made, featuring concert readings of operas in development at ALT, including The Halloween Tree, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing, and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant. The season concludes with the return of the critically acclaimed ALT Alumni: Composers & Librettists in Concert, celebrating the success of prominent alumni of American Lyric Theater's innovative Composer Librettist Development Program. Tickets are available at www.altnyc.org.

"This season, we are very excited to share three exciting new operas being developed under the auspices of the Composer Librettist Development Program at ALT, as well as to showcase the work of our alumni who are creating new operas for companies across the country," stated Edelson. "These operas range from an adaptation of a classic Ray Bradbury novel for family audiences, to a historical fantasia on one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the 20th Century. We are looking forward to building upon our relationships with Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Concert Hall and MasterVoices for the presentation of our InsightALT series; and to our new partnership with the Morgan Library & Museum to present our Alumni concert in Gilder Lehrman Concert Hall. Through these partnerships, more audiences than ever before will be able to get a glimpse behind the process of creating new operas, and enjoy some of the most exciting new works being written today."

"The essential contemporary opera lab." - The New Yorker 

AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER'S 2016-2017 SEASON: 

  • InsightALT

Presented by American Lyric Theater and Kaufman Music Center at Merkin Concert Hall

The InsightALT series provides an insider's look at how new operas are made. Each event features a concert reading of a new opera in development at American Lyric Theater, with guest singers from the world's leading opera houses, followed by a discussion with the composer and librettist of each work, moderated by ALT's Founder and Producing Artistic Director, Lawrence Edelson.

  • The Halloween Tree

Presented in partnership with MasterVoices

October 30, 2016 at 3pm

Location: Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center - 129 W. 67th Street, New York, NY  

Based on Ray Bradbury's classic novel that explores the origins of Halloween, composer Theo Popov and librettist Tony Asaro take us on an epic journey as a group of children search for their friend Pipkin who has mysteriously disappeared on Halloween night. Conductor: Adam Turner. Featuring: Emma Grimsley, Shirin Eskandani, Brian Wallin, Michael Kelly, and Jarrett Porter with members of MasterVoices.

  • The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing

Presented in partnership with MasterVoices

January 12, 2017 at 7:30pm

Location: Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center - 129 W. 67th Street, New York, NY

With music by Justine F. Chen and libretto by David Simpatico, this opera is a historical-fantasia inspired by the life of the groundbreaking computer scientist, Alan Turing. Conductor: Lidiya Yankovskaya. Featuring Jonathan Michie as Alan Turing, with Keely Futterer, Elise Quagliata Andrew Bidlack, Jack Swanson,Joseph Beutel and Thomas Shivone, with members of MasterVoices.

  • Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant

March 26, 2017 at 3pm

Location: Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center - 129 W. 67th Street, New York, NY  

A mash-up honoring the classic detective stories of Sherlock Holmes in a romp through a fairy tale world to solve a mystery unlike any Holmes and Watson have encountered before. With a playful libretto by E.M Lewis and mysterious score by Evan Meier, the game's afoot! Conductor: Ari Pelto. Featuring: Sharleen Joynt, Jennifer Black, Steven Eddy, and David Kravitz.

The 2016-2017 season will conclude in April with ALT Alumni: Composers & Librettists in Concert, presented by American Lyric Theater and The Morgan Library & Museum. This concert celebrates the success of prominent alumni of American Lyric Theater's innovative Composer Librettist Development Program, singers from the country's leading opera houses perform excerpts of recently premiered operas and works in development.

  • ALT Alumni: Composers & Librettists in Concert

Presented by American Lyric Theater and The Morgan Library & Museum

April 23, 2017 at 3pm

Location: Morgan Library & Museum in the Gilder Lehrman Hall - 225 Madison Ave, New York, NY

Excerpts from JFK by David T. Little and Royce Vavrek*, After the Storm by David Hanlon and Stephanie Fleischmann*, Steal a Pencil for Me by Gerald Cohen* and Deborah Brevoort*, and The Copper Queen by Clint Borzoni* and John de los Santos.(*denotes CLDP alumni)

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