Opera Company of Philadelphia, in Collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group, Announces First Collaborative U.S. Operatic Compose

The Opera Company of Philadelphia, in collaboration with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theatre Group in New York.Funded over five years by a $1.4 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Composer In Residence (CIR) program will provide a highly individualized professional development path for two of today’s most promising opera composers, selected on a competitive basis during 2011 and 2012. The goal of the CIR program is to foster tomorrow’s American operatic masterpieces through personalized creative development and intensive, hands-on composition opportunities.
The Opera Company of Philadelphia is partnering with two New York companies: Gotham Chamber Opera, which specializes in innovative productions of intimately-scaled, rarely-performed works, and Music-Theatre Group, well known for their development of new works. Together, this triumvirate is already working on the co-commission and co-production of Dark Sisters, a new opera with music by Nico Muhly and a libretto by Stephen Karam. The opera is currently in development, with a New York World Premiere in November 2011 and a Philadelphia Premiere in June 2012.
Though the focus is on emerging composers who see opera as a significant component of their future artistic journey, mid-career composers who are seeking to redirect their creative work into opera are invited to apply. While there is no pre-determined creative output required, composers are encouraged to make best use of resources by focusing their residency around one or more musical works. The resulting works may be considered for performance by the collaborators.
The CIR program will be administered by Kyle Bartlett, the newly appointed New Works Administrator at the Opera Company of Philadelphia.