tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26351990884502276882024-03-05T16:20:38.562-05:00Douglas Moore FundUpdates from The Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera, a not-for-profit supporting an annual fellowship for an emerging opera/music theater creator. Named in honor of the American composer of THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE.Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-54007124827353053752015-07-30T08:52:00.001-04:002015-07-30T08:59:18.606-04:00"At the Governor's Ball, done up like a Christmas Tree"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"While this one here at the Governor's Ball,</div>
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Done up, like a Christmas Tree"</div>
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from Act II scene i of BABY DOE</div>
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at the Janiec Opera Company of</div>
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the Brevard Music Center</div>
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For the past year, activities at the Douglas Moore Fund have looked inward at Moore himself. One of the projects comes to fruition this month with the premiere of a new reduced orchestration of THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE.<br />
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Using the scores from the original conductor, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerson_Buckley">Emerson Buckley</a>, the score has been entered, reduced, and printed using Finale. The <a href="https://www.brevardmusic.org/institute/college/opera/">Janiec Opera Center</a> of the Brevard Music Center has graciously agreed to collaborate on the premiere, enduring the usual need for corrections of wrong notes. The final edits will be made after a production this fall at Amarillo Opera.</div>
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Discussions will be under way soon about the best way to administer this orchestration. The next fund project will be to edit and produce collections of Moore's vocal works, including unpublished pieces and others that are scattered over a half dozen publishers.</div>
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<br />Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-63241827809844780642015-01-12T17:13:00.000-05:002015-01-12T17:13:20.639-05:00At the National Opera AssociationLast week, Michael Ching and Miranda Beeson presented a program of Moore's lesser known operas and songs at the conference of the National Opera Association in Greensboro. The program was performed by students and faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, gathered together by their chair, Louise Toppin. We are particularly interested in further productions of CARRIE NATION and Jack Beeson's LIZZIE BORDEN.<br />
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Also at the conference, composer <a href="http://www.leannakirchoff.com/">Leanna Kirchoff'</a>s opera, THE CLEVER ARTIFICE OF HARRIET AND MARGARET won the NOA's chamber opera competition. It will get a full production at next year's conference in Indianapolis. Leanna received a travel grant from the Moore Fund last year.Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-50379569379639779122014-08-11T12:36:00.001-04:002014-08-11T12:36:08.805-04:00Douglas Moore's birthday, August 10th<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This weekend, Cutchogue had its annual Douglas Moore Festival concert. In honor of the birthday, here's a <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michael-ching-3/adam-was-my-grandfather-by">link to a Moore song from 1938,</a> "Adam was my grandfather." Text is by Stephen Vincent Benet and the title of the poem is "For all blasphemers."<a href="http://allpoetry.com/For-All-Blasphemers"> Here's the full text.</a></div>
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<br />Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-54369164826405842382014-06-04T11:50:00.003-04:002014-06-04T11:50:49.684-04:00LIZZIE goes to TanglewoodJack Beeson's dramatic and dark LIZZIE BORDEN will play at Tanglewood this summer at the end of July. Here's a link to a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/2014/06/02/140602goli_GOAT_classical_platt">New Yorker announcement about it.</a> And here's a more comprehensive one at <a href="http://blo.org/events/lizzie-borden-at-tanglewood/">Boston Lyric Opera.</a> The production features a new orchestral reduction.Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-273910747556302842014-02-02T11:47:00.000-05:002014-02-02T11:47:10.318-05:00Day-Dream by Duke Ellington, Billie Strayhorn and John LaTouche<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Opera folks know John LaTouche as the librettist for Douglas Moore's BALLAD OF BABY DOE. Given that the arias in DOE are some of the most moving in American opera, it's not surprising to learn that LaTouche was also a songwriter. He also collaborated with Vernon Duke and Leonard Bernstein.</div>
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I came across this in an old Ellington book from the 1940s that belonged to my father. </div>
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You can purchase Ella Fitzgerald's recording of it<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W0YSC4/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk2"> here on Amazon.</a> The instrumental only version is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmr18GmIRYE">here</a>.</div>
<br />Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-27101482109357928052013-12-09T11:46:00.001-05:002013-12-09T12:03:48.608-05:00Juhi Bansal visits the college staged premiere of A WOMAN IN MOROCCO<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Daron Hagen, composer and Barbara Grecki, librettist</div>
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This fall the Moore Fund provided composer<a href="http://juhibansal.com/"> Juhi Bansal</a> with a grant to attend the production week of the college staged premiere of Daron Hagen's opera, <a href="http://www.daronhagen.com/index.php?page=a-woman-in-morocco">A WOMAN IN MOROCCO</a>. The work had its premiere on October 25, 2013 at the Butler Opera Center at the University of Texas, Austin. </div>
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Thanks to Mo. Hagen and Mo. Kelly Kuo at the Butler Opera Center.Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-37628759804805118342013-11-27T14:07:00.002-05:002013-11-27T14:09:43.527-05:00A mini Moore for Leanna Kirchoff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-icNw-DOew9tCTcvtPLKQkNKyMpBNP2m3upJw4H0pjOYMBL1Uxi4Q5Fdakspcw5jTCS-UHJBcH7GHEhTODL_4vpNAx7pjWVd7lqxMBhe5WugPUAJ5t9sVketA7HpodKZhgjxRBlT0_sXk/s1600/Opera+panorama+11182013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-icNw-DOew9tCTcvtPLKQkNKyMpBNP2m3upJw4H0pjOYMBL1Uxi4Q5Fdakspcw5jTCS-UHJBcH7GHEhTODL_4vpNAx7pjWVd7lqxMBhe5WugPUAJ5t9sVketA7HpodKZhgjxRBlT0_sXk/s1600/Opera+panorama+11182013.jpg" height="139" width="640" /></a></div>
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Recently, composer Leanna Kirchoff, went on a mini Moore fellowship to observe Arizona Opera's full workshop of Craig Bohmler and Steven Mark Kohn's <a href="http://craigbohmler.com/purplesage/">operatic treatment of Zane Grey's novel, </a>RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Leanna said "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">It was great to see the work twice and to have time to talk to Craig and Steven about the process from creation to performance. Craig's music has such a great emotional range and it is always contributing to the story, rather than being merely accompanimental. He played for both performances, which was impressive, as the music was difficult in many spots!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Leanna's work was featured at the <a href="http://www.vafest.org/2014/duffy-institute">John Duffy Composers Institute </a>at Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk. She recently produced her opera, <a href="http://www.cleverartifice.com/">THE CLEVER ARTIFICE OF HARRIET AND MARGARET</a>, in Colorado.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">We thank Craig and Steven and Arizona Opera's Ryan Taylor for facilitating and embracing this visit.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-12837425571196662362013-10-01T15:15:00.001-04:002013-10-01T15:15:29.445-04:0034th Annual Douglas Moore Festival in Cutchogue<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Douglas Moore's hometown of Cutchogue honors his memory every summer with a concert. Here are some pictures from that event, which took place on August 10th. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjM2JK9SQb0ZbAUxaZNWBh449McI349IdWgreVTYtBirfqJl6SQxRLQFd0Cp-jIvCGTvrHyRUSM3W-37JELsKz5LgP1585CbyxY4OPfWH4hXLD6Cdkxq-KUR5DMcZTGqGVafNldDd2LC4Y/s1600/IMG_1421.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjM2JK9SQb0ZbAUxaZNWBh449McI349IdWgreVTYtBirfqJl6SQxRLQFd0Cp-jIvCGTvrHyRUSM3W-37JELsKz5LgP1585CbyxY4OPfWH4hXLD6Cdkxq-KUR5DMcZTGqGVafNldDd2LC4Y/s1600/IMG_1421.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Soprano Stephanie Izzo captures the light from all angles as she performs "The Willow Song" from "Baby Doe." Ben Arendsen conducts the Sound Symphony on the Cutchogue Village Green just a half mile from the waterfront cottage where Moore would compose when visiting his home town.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIcef28HO8YmF2wD1xduiGyHpXojdM_z3TykPczNPL1rkwi22gZhUghfsqZYlpDvLHoQe0zj8ex-B5JMofX7_EINO2Tulx1buyCeqIvDd0gmk-9qJP0ovc6EERTvvUI26CaIEZkvDMSr4/s1600/IMG_1369.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIcef28HO8YmF2wD1xduiGyHpXojdM_z3TykPczNPL1rkwi22gZhUghfsqZYlpDvLHoQe0zj8ex-B5JMofX7_EINO2Tulx1buyCeqIvDd0gmk-9qJP0ovc6EERTvvUI26CaIEZkvDMSr4/s1600/IMG_1369.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Historic buildings on the Cutchogue Village Green --- a scale model of the nearby 1648 Old House in the foreground, the early 19th century Carriage House just adjacent, and in the background, the early 18th Century Wickham Farmhouse. --- stand unperturbed by the frantic bustle of musician preparations for the concert."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pictures and captions courtesy of the Douglas Moore Festival board. More to come. </span><br />
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Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-55104321513010573782013-08-29T16:39:00.000-04:002013-08-29T16:39:35.621-04:00Zach Wadsworth finishes his fellowship year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Congratulations to Zach Wadsworth who finished his Moore Fund fellowship year looking in on the RING at the Seattle Opera. Here here is pictured with composer Thomas Ades.<br />
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And here he is at the Minnesota Opera, where he observed rehearsals and performances of Douglas Cuomo's operatic version of DOUBT.</div>
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The board of the fund is looking at how best to continue its activities--whether to remain focusing on a single fellowship or perhaps to branch out into shorter length ones or other activities related to the development of opera and musical theater composers. </div>
<br />Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-21262975372550327292013-06-23T10:55:00.004-04:002013-06-23T10:55:26.557-04:00JK in Opera News.<a href="http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2013/7/Departments/Listener_of_Note_%E2%80%94%C2%A0John_Kander.html">Here</a>'s a nice interview conducted by Brian Kellow in the new <b>Opera News</b> with our board member John Kander.Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-74392244428921728362013-06-10T16:39:00.000-04:002013-06-10T16:39:23.984-04:00The Duffy Institute <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>John Duffy and Libby Larsen, with Rob Cross (left) who is the director of the Virginia Arts Festival.</i></div>
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Last month, I got the chance to work with six composers who were fellows at the <a href="http://www.virginiaartsfest.com/2013/duffy-institute">Duffy Institute.</a> Named after <a href="http://www.johnduffy.com/">John Duffy</a>, the institute provides composers with the chance to hear their work performed by a group of talented and flexible singers very well selected by <a href="http://www.miami.edu/frost/index.php/frost/frost_profiles/vocal-johnson_alan_o_bio/">Alan Johnson</a>, who serves as music director of the project. <a href="http://www.libbylarsen.com/">Libby Larsen</a> is also there in-residence to provide commentary and continuity along with a variety of guest composers who stop in for a few days during the two week period.<br />
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The Duffy Institute is part of the Virginia Arts Festival and takes place at Old Dominion University. With this institute, John, who is well known both as a composer and as the founder of Meet the Composer (now part of New Music USA) has really made an impact on the training and nurturing of music theater creators.<br />
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What excited me about the institute was the variety of composers and their styles, from very contemporary to very musical theater. It certainly strikes me that composers from both fields deal with similar problems--plausible and compelling musical storytelling. And there are marketing challenges--how style is perceived by the field and how to navigate a business that tends to define, label and pigeonhole. There were composers who were clearly writing contemporary new music opera, some clearly writing Broadway musicals, but a couple who were exploring territory in between. I was so pleased to see that kind of variety--John told me that the fellows were deliberately chosen to reflect a diversity of styles. As were the guest composers--Charles Wourinen came in after I left.<br />
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<br />Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-57712069751805453292013-05-15T10:57:00.001-04:002013-05-15T10:57:50.136-04:00Road Report #4: The Collaborative Gesamtkunstwerk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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“Nude <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernumerary#Arts_and_entertainment" target="_blank">supers</a> to the stage, please.”<br />
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Out they walked – two dozen unclothed men – onto the stage of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. They were the “Corps of Lovers” in the <a href="http://www.nycopera.com/" target="_blank">New York City Opera</a>’s 2013 production of Thomas Adès’ <i>Powder Her Face</i>. And they, in their bold, silent nakedness, were the topic of giddy conversations during intermission, on <a href="https://twitter.com/wyszniewski/status/303508172373626881" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/arts/music/powder-her-face-from-city-opera-at-bam.html" target="_blank">all</a> of the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/17/ades-powder-her-face-open_n_2707299.html" target="_blank">opera’s</a> <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/scandalous_opera_bares_all_Le3yYhqaQAcKbMPmHaorIN" target="_blank">reviews</a>.<br />
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These men are found nowhere in Adès’ score; they were an invention of stage director <a href="http://www.jayscheib.com/" target="_blank">Jay Scheib</a>, inserted into the opera’s most famous scene as a ghostly reminder of the main character’s many past anonymous romances.<br />
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Scheib’s decision was, without doubt, a coup. First and foremost, it was an artistically bold choice – the parade of bodies avoided burlesque bawdiness, instead combining in a haunting tableaux, silent of voice but damning in presence.<br />
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But nowadays, operas can’t thrive on artistry alone, and the “Corps of Lovers” also proved an irresistible topic for media (it even made a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2277424/Powder-Her-Face-opera-sex-crazed-Duchess-Argyll-fit-25-88-lovers-stage-health-safety-fears.html" target="_blank">splash</a> in British tabloids) and an undeniable draw for audience members, who <a href="https://twitter.com/singingscholar/status/302572451555053568/photo/1" target="_blank">flooded the lobby on opening night</a>, delaying the curtain by 20 minutes.<br />
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Of course, Scheib’s staging was only one ingredient in NYCO’s success with <i>Powder Her Face</i>; the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/album/ades-powder-her-face/id452251795" target="_blank">opera itself</a> is a modern masterpiece, and the performers were all excellent. But Scheib’s work reveals the true power of a good staging: to amplify and deepen inherent aspects of a work, and to provide a unique draw even for audiences who might have seen or heard the opera elsewhere.<br />
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But does the presence of a living, breathing stage director threaten the sanctity of the composer’s vision? After all, Richard Wagner reacted against the imbalanced excesses of Grand Opera by imagining a <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesamtkunstwerk" target="_blank">Gesamtkunstwerk</a></i> (“total artwork”), in which he, as composer, would seize control over all aspects of his work, including the music, the libretto, the scenery, the direction, and even the costumes (fortunately, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell-O-Vision" target="_blank">Smell-O-Vision</a> hadn’t yet been invented).<br />
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While we composers might fantasize about this level of control, it’s best for everyone if we recognize the truth: opera is, and always has been, a collaborative medium. And by welcoming the perspectives of stage directors, librettists, dramaturgs, and countless others, we can still arrive at a unified artistic whole – a kind of ‘collaborative <i>Gesamtkunstwerk</i>.’<br />
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Of course, this is already happening (as the <i>Powder Her Face</i> example shows). And indeed, during my travels as a Douglas Moore Fellow, every opera I saw was a beautiful distillation of careful decisions made both by its creators (composer and librettist) and by its interpreters (directors, designers, and performers).<br />
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Opera companies play matchmaker for all of these artistic personalities, and they’ve even found ways to do it without losing money. While new operas are, inevitably, a greater financial gamble than tried-and-true classics, several administrators have told me that well-designed collaborations are integral to a new opera’s economic success.<br />
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If, for example, a composer is insufficiently famous to draw an audience, then an opera company should hire a well-known singer, or have the composer use a well-known story (as I discussed in the <a href="http://douglasmoorefund.blogspot.ca/2013/05/road-report-2-state-of-art-form.html" target="_blank">second part</a> of this blog series). Or, if an opera company is looking to reach out to new communities and age groups, then they could commission new works that tell stories that appeal to these groups, or they could stage operas in <a href="http://www.gothamchamberopera.org/" target="_blank">new</a> and <a href="http://blo.org/events/james-macmillans-clemency/" target="_blank">interesting</a> venues.<br />
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Regardless of these specifics, it gives me great hope that, despite five years of recession in the United States, opera companies continue to commission and perform new works at an unprecedented rate.<br />
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And then, as I travel the country, I grow even more hopeful when I see the brave collaborations that result in relevant new works for our time.<br />
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And, with each new opera company, I am amazed and inspired by the fabulous performers who sing and play new works even when they don’t need to.<br />
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Finally, above all, I draw hope from the audiences who, despite a world of distractions, choose to come to the theatre, to sit down in the dark, to watch, and to listen.<br />
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This is the last in a four-part blog series by composer and pianist <b>Zachary Wadsworth</b>, the 2012-2013 Fellow of the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera. For more information about him and his music, visit <a href="http://zacharywadsworth.com/">zacharywadsworth.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-92097426242540757312013-05-08T10:40:00.000-04:002013-05-15T11:02:44.313-04:00Road Report #3: The Composer’s Guide to Singers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In an orange-and-brown high school classroom in Richmond, Virginia, my first choral composition was sung for the first time. It was 1999, and I was a keen, bright-eyed 15-year-old beginner. The piece was entitled <i>Silence of the Night</i> (on a poem written by my piano teacher), and I passed out handwritten copies. My generous choir director, Dwight Graham, played the piano as my fellow choristers sang.<br />
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About ten bars into the piece, the sopranos were told to sing a high B-flat on the word “see.” Where I had hoped for a glorious, ringing tone, a primordial squawk emerged.<br />
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We finished singing, and I walked around the room to collect my copies. I approached the soprano section expecting florid apologies for the fumbled high note, but was instead met with silence. In their eyes was a white-hot rage that communicated a single phrase: <i>“Never again.”</i><br />
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Luckily, despite these initial fumbles, much of my compositional career thus far has been spent writing music for singers. And my travels for the past year as a <b>Douglas Moore Fellow</b> have added to my appreciation for the finer points of vocal composition. Here are a few of the lessons I’ve picked up along the way:<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Write for a real voice, and pick the right singer.</b><br /><br />No one would expect <a href="http://youtu.be/_tiyDiIo4dg?t=1m26s" target="_blank">Emma Kirkby</a> to sing in <i>Parsifal</i>, just as no one would have expected <a href="http://youtu.be/xCFEk6Y8TmM" target="_blank">Luciano Pavarotti</a> to sing with the <a href="http://youtu.be/BJxH_6A6UJ8" target="_blank">Academy of Ancient Music</a>. So if we, as composers, write music that requires Kirkby in one bar and Pavarotti in the next, we’re writing impossible music.<br /><br />To avoid this, we have to learn about the wonderfully variegated world of voice types. While, of course, no two voices are alike, studying the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fach" target="_blank">Fach system</a> (and cross-referencing it with as many recordings as you can find) is a good place to start. But ultimately, nothing can beat working with real singers.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Learn their limits.</b><br /><br />Can she trill? What is his lowest note? How long can she sing above the staff?<br /><br />A singer’s instrument is part of their body, and unreasonable demands can result in permanent physical harm. But the definition of “unreasonable” varies widely from person to person. Ask a singer to tell you their limits (especially relating to range, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessitura" target="_blank">tessitura</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloratura" target="_blank">coloratura</a>) before you start composing in order to avoid confrontation later on. And rest assured that if one singer can do it, others can as well.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Feel free to challenge them.</b><br /><br />Hopefully the first two tips haven’t made you too gun-shy. Singers love to be challenged and will work to make the most superhuman musical tasks seem effortless. It’s simply a matter of making sure that difficulty is reasonable and meaningful. Just look at Mozart’s “<a href="http://youtu.be/9qqDKUKvoIs" target="_blank">Queen of the Night</a>” – the role is virtuosic beyond belief, but it still operates within a clearly defined <i>Fach</i>, and it includes lengthy resting periods for the singer.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Know when to let the singer take over.</b><br /><br />While the composer’s job can often be to fill space, it can also be to empty it; by stripping away detail and complexity, the composer can allow for a performer to shape the operatic moment. And some of the most powerful scenes in all of opera do just that.<br /><br />In “<a href="http://youtu.be/Pg3UCgMLXhE?t=47s" target="_blank">Now the Great Bear and Pleiades</a>” from <i>Peter Grimes</i>, for example, Benjamin Britten gives the title character long reciting tones and three simple, descending scales to sing. On the page, it looks terribly static. But on the stage, these descending scales add up to much more than the sum of their parts.<br /><br />It takes trust, and it takes careful preparation, but composers could experiment more with this freedom of musical space. Singers know how to make the most of these moments (see also: Mozart’s “<a href="http://youtu.be/B0yNVKiKPUA?t=41s" target="_blank">Ach, ich fühl's</a>,” Puccini’s “<a href="http://youtu.be/3pryZos2oOk" target="_blank">Vissi d’arte</a>,” and John Adams’ “<a href="http://youtu.be/7fJRoKlCroU?t=1m1s" target="_blank">Batter my heart</a>”).<br /> </li>
<li><b>Justify their silences</b><br /><i>My great friend and collaborator, soprano </i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/annamariesoprano" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Annamarie Zmolek</a><i>, taught me this one</i><br /><br />In opera and art song, singers are still hard at work even when they’re not singing. These vocal breaks are often dramatically vital; think of Salome’s “<a href="http://youtu.be/3ruCLYzsEHM" target="_blank">Dance of the Seven Veils</a>,” the <a href="http://youtu.be/K7ghElp-NGw?t=6m50s" target="_blank">end of Act II</a> of <i>Tosca</i>, or <a href="http://youtu.be/TY7CVdJJnUk?t=40m40s" target="_blank">Tadzio’s dances</a> in <i>Death in Venice</i>.<br /><br />But, whether the break lasts eight bars or fifty, composers have to be sure that they are there for a reason, and that singers will have something to do (even if that means standing perfectly still) while they’re not singing. Nothing can break dramatic flow more quickly than an extended, extraneous vocal silence.</li>
</ol>
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These are only five of countless little lessons learned over a lifetime (many of which, surely, I have yet to learn). The only way to master vocal composition, just like any other kind of composition, is to try, to fail, to learn, and to try again.<br />
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And while the composer’s relationship with the singer is the most central in the production of a new work, contemporary opera is also powerfully shaped by stage directors, and by the opera companies themselves. Come back next week for the <a href="http://douglasmoorefund.blogspot.ca/2013/05/road-report-4-collaborative.html">final post</a> in this blog series, covering the business of opera.<br />
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Composer and pianist <b>Zachary Wadsworth</b> is the 2012-2013 Fellow of the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera. For more information about him and his music, visit <a href="http://zacharywadsworth.com/">zacharywadsworth.com</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-69038758352245799462013-05-02T11:03:00.002-04:002013-05-02T11:03:58.561-04:00Beeson's Dr. Heidegger at Hunter College Opera<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Today <a href="http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/music/pressroom/events/hunter-opera-may-2">Hunter College Opera Theater</a> performs Jack Beeson's one act opera, DR. HEIDEGGER'S FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. Jack was one of the founding board members of the Moore Fund and a close friend and colleague of Douglas Moore. There is a lovely <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Beeson-Heideggers-Fountain-Youth/dp/B0036BU9DS">recording</a> of the opera.</div>
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<br />Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-45893449313779407822013-05-01T13:27:00.003-04:002013-05-08T10:49:15.932-04:00Road Report #2: The state of the art form<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Premature declarations of death have become a modern comedy cliché – think of Monty Python’s classic “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grbSQ6O6kbs" target="_blank">Bring out your dead</a>” skit, or Will Ferrell’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLaCqrisEac" target="_blank">hilariously protracted death scene</a> from the first Austin Powers movie.<br />
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We like it when people jump the gun, and we laugh when the down-and-out bounce back and refuse to go quietly into that good night.<br />
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And so it gives me great pleasure to write that modern opera, despite the doomsday claims of many, is healthy and thriving.<br />
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One sign of its health is the diverse crop of composers and librettists writing excellent works for the stage – more on them in a moment. The other, more important sign is that numerous opera administrators enthusiastically support the production of new works. In fact, of the five opera companies I visited this year, all five regularly perform recent or new operas.<br />
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But how can any opera be “new,” especially when the genre itself is often accused of being outdated and stuffy (it was recently called a “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/books/a-history-of-opera-by-carolyn-abbate-and-roger-parker.html" target="_blank">wonderful mortuary</a>”)? Composers and librettists have found several ways to bring freshness and excitement to the genre.<br />
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<h4>
The Libretto</h4>
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One common way to seek relevance in modern opera is to craft librettos around real people and events. Colorfully (and somewhat derisively) termed “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/28/us/writers-enchanted-by-the-freedom-of-opera.html?pagewanted=2" target="_blank">CNN Operas</a>,” these works draw interest by reframing, retelling, and sometimes even mythologizing stories from real life. In John Adams’ <i>Death of Klinghoffer</i>, for example, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achille_Lauro_hijacking" target="_blank">1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro</a> is powerfully reimagined as a kind of Passion play that explores the tragedy of modern political strife.<br />
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But fiction still has a substantial place among opera librettos; many continue to be fashioned from movies, books, and plays (both ancient and modern). And though they draw their stories from the imagination, they still speak to audiences by touching on meaningful contemporary issues. In <a href="http://www.zacharywadsworth.com/works_opera.html" target="_blank">my first opera</a>, a setting of Shakespeare’s <i>Venus and Adonis</i>, the tragic love story also speaks to modern concerns about gender, power, and sexual identity. And Thomas Adès’ <i>The Tempest</i>, recently staged at the Metropolitan Opera, partly reimagines the classic play as a nature parable, in which the characters’ departure from the island returns it to a state of primeval tranquility.<br />
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Over the course of my travels as a Douglas Moore Fellow, every new opera I saw fit into one of these two categories. Indeed, it seems that a vast majority of recent operas do, especially those performed in the major opera houses of North America. To support my point, I whipped up this list of twenty such operas written in the last ten years:<br />
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<table border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 12px; width: 100%px;">
<caption>Recent Opera Librettos</caption>
<tbody>
<tr style="background-color: #cc3300; color: white; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-top: 5px;">
<th>Based on Real People and Events</th>
<th>Based on a Preexisting Film, Book, Play, or Myth</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Theo Morrison: <i>Oscar</i> (forthcoming)</td>
<td>Kevin Puts: <i>The Manchurian Candidate</i> (forthcoming)</td>
</tr>
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<td>Michael Ching: <i>Slaying the Dragon</i> (2012)</td>
<td>Jennifer Higdon: <i>Cold Mountain</i> (forthcoming)</td>
</tr>
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<td>Robin de Raaf: <i>Waiting for Miss Monroe</i> (2012)</td>
<td>Charles Wuorinen: <i>Brokeback Mountain</i> (2012)</td>
</tr>
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<td>Nico Muhly: <i>Two Boys</i> (2011)</td>
<td>Douglas J. Cuomo: <i>Doubt</i> (2012)</td>
</tr>
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<td>Philip Glass: <i>The Perfect American</i> (2011)</td>
<td>Tarik O'Regan:<i> Heart of Darkness</i> (2011)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Huang Ruo: <i>Dr. Sun Yat-sen</i> (2011)</td>
<td>Kevin Puts: <i>Silent Night</i> (2011)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mark-Anthony Turnage: <i>Anna Nicole</i> (2010)</td>
<td>Jake Heggie: <i>Moby-Dick</i> (2010)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Marc-André Dalbavie: <i>Gesualdo</i> (2010)</td>
<td>Harrison Birtwistle: <i>The Minotaur</i> (2008)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Philip Glass: <i>Kepler</i> (2009)</td>
<td>Ricky Ian Gordon: <i>The Grapes of Wrath</i> (2007)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>John Adams: <i>Doctor Atomic</i> (2005)</td>
<td>Thomas Adès: <i>The Tempest</i> (2004)</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
Please feel free to add to these lists in the comments section below!<br />
<br />
Is it a problem that modern operas don’t tend toward completely original stories? Somehow, I doubt it; the genre has always embraced well-known characters and situations, from Monteverdi’s <i>L’Orfeo</i> (1607) to Philip Glass’ <i>Orphée</i> (1993) and onward. As long as librettos continue to tell stories, regardless of their source, that resonate with audiences, the art form will remain as relevant as ever.<br />
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<h4>
The Music</h4>
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One of the greatest things about being a composer today is the freedom to compose in any style – instead of being judged according to external aesthetic tastes, composers are celebrated for their musical individuality. And, most importantly, notions of a single way forward in music have all but vanished.<br />
<br />
This musical diversity is mirrored in the world of opera. George Benjamin and Tobias Picker have little in common, musically speaking, but both have found broad success with their elegant, expressive, and honest works.<br />
<br />
Because of this liberal approach to musical style, it’s hard to make sweeping generalizations about music in new operas. But one can make some general observations about composers’ attempts to bring freshness to an old genre:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Over the past 100 years, operas have gotten shorter. Now, most are of similar length to films, typically weighing in between 90 minutes and three hours. Of course, there are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licht" target="_blank">exceptions</a>...</li>
<li>There are almost no examples of recent operas that are written in the old “numbers” style of Arias, Ensembles, and Recitatives (separated by applause), though most recent operas contain echoes of these forms.</li>
<li>Exotic voice types have made a big comeback. <a href="http://youtu.be/8zpwqibnuOw?t=9m0s" target="_blank">Countertenors</a>, <a href="http://player.qobuz.com/#!/track/4681049" target="_blank">low basses</a>, and <a href="http://youtu.be/0mtMI_huRtY" target="_blank">coloratura sopranos</a> are appearing more and more in new operas, providing exotic spectacle and undermining stereotypes about opera singers.</li>
<li>Composers are using a much wider variety of ensembles for their work, from full and chamber orchestras to live electronics. With these new instrumental combinations come new and thrilling sounds, tailored to an opera’s unique story.</li>
<li>Even the term "opera" itself is expanding to include works that don't fit within traditional parameters. As works move out of traditional venues, they increasingly incorporate video art, dance, interactive technology, and non-narrative storytelling.</li>
</ul>
<br />
All generalizations aside, it’s clear that opera remains a fruitful genre for composers, and it seems that the steady stream of new works, which even survived the recent economic crisis, won’t dry up anytime soon. What hopefully will dry up, however, is the tired refrain that opera is a dead art form. Nothing could be further from the truth.<br />
<br />
Of course, composers are only one side of the multifaceted world of opera. Come back next week, when I will discuss <a href="http://douglasmoorefund.blogspot.com/2013/05/road-report-3-composers-guide-to-singers.html">the other artists </a>who make opera possible.<br />
<br />
<hr />
Composer and pianist <b>Zachary Wadsworth</b> is the 2012-2013 Fellow of the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera. For more information about him and his music, visit <a href="http://zacharywadsworth.com/">zacharywadsworth.com</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-328986368718073662013-04-24T10:59:00.000-04:002013-05-01T13:38:27.416-04:00Road Report #1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibo_BuJN0HqovV-7Lq9zK-pspuISfPdt3z5Kfqyq-NqJiAYG8ysdbrE3B263etpiJHenJJ359CYdZ0XU3cuZPh_fuxjiDWZKXUUyRQSLWn_PNyrpnMANZR7t9H9f3xls3zz-3V3iKa_WNW/s1600/web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibo_BuJN0HqovV-7Lq9zK-pspuISfPdt3z5Kfqyq-NqJiAYG8ysdbrE3B263etpiJHenJJ359CYdZ0XU3cuZPh_fuxjiDWZKXUUyRQSLWn_PNyrpnMANZR7t9H9f3xls3zz-3V3iKa_WNW/s1600/web.jpg" /></a></div>
I’m sitting in an opera rehearsal, and I catch someone’s eye. We introduce ourselves, engage in the usual pleasantries, and then comes the inevitable question: “So, what do you do?”<br />
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Most people in the room don’t have a hard time answering this question. They’re singers, stagehands, conductors, choreographers, or even wigmakers. Their roles are clear, and their presence is justified. But when I answer, “I’m a composer,” my interrogator’s brow furrows, and more questions follow.<br />
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“Do you compose operas?” Yes, I’ve written <a href="http://www.zacharywadsworth.com/works_opera.html" target="_blank">one</a>.<br />
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“Are you writing us an opera?” Not right now, but I hope to eventually.<br />
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“Then what are you doing here?”<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
OK, I admit I was never interrogated this harshly, but it’s still a fair question. After all, most opera composers are dead, and the living ones don’t typically spend their time haunting rehearsal halls and backstage areas.<br />
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But why shouldn’t they? Didn’t Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss spend time in and around opera companies? Didn’t they hone their theatrical craft through countless hours watching what worked (and didn’t work) on and off stage?<br />
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They did indeed, and that’s what I’m doing as the 2012-2013 Fellow of the <a href="http://douglasmoorefund.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Douglas Moore Fund</a>. For the past year, it has been my job to go to several opera companies and to hone my compositional craft by watching, listening, and interacting with opera professionals.<br />
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Every once in a while, I pinch myself to make sure that this is, indeed, my job. <br />
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What do the opera companies get out of the deal? Well, they get an extra pair of hands, which I’ve used variously throughout the year to write (and re-write) music, help hang scenery, correct supertitles, apply false eyelashes, and play piano for rehearsals (of all of these things, the eyelashes posed the most difficulty).<br />
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So far, the Fellowship has taken me to <a href="http://www.operatheater.org/" target="_blank">Center City Opera Theater</a> in Philadelphia for Michael Ching’s <i><a href="http://www.operatheater.org/wp4/slaying-the-dragon/" target="_blank">Slaying the Dragon</a></i>, to the <a href="http://www.santafeopera.org/" target="_blank">Santa Fe Opera</a> for workshops of Theo Morrison’s forthcoming <i><a href="http://www.santafeopera.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=5682" target="_blank">Oscar</a></i>, to the <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/" target="_blank">Metropolitan Opera</a> for Thomas Adès’ <i><a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/opera/tempest-ades-tickets.aspx" target="_blank">The Tempest</a></i>, to the <a href="http://www.mnopera.org/" target="_blank">Minnesota Opera</a> for Douglas Cuomo’s <i><a href="http://www.mnopera.org/season/2012-2013/doubt" target="_blank">Doubt</a></i>, and to the <a href="http://www.nycopera.com/" target="_blank">New York City Opera</a> for Adès’ <i><a href="http://www.nycopera.com/calendar/view.aspx?id=13799" target="_blank">Powder Her Face</a></i>.<br />
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Each residency has been uniquely fascinating, and I’ve taken away several important lessons about the art, the people, and the business of opera. These will be the topics of the next several blog postings. Check back next week for a <a href="http://douglasmoorefund.blogspot.com/2013/05/road-report-2-state-of-art-form.html">discussion of the art form</a> itself.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<span style="color: #444444;">Composer and pianist <b>Zachary Wadsworth</b> is the 2012-2013 Fellow of the Douglas Moore Fund for American Opera. For more information about him and his music, visit </span><a href="http://www.zacharywadsworth.com/">zacharywadsworth.com</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-84022343466842729182013-04-22T15:20:00.000-04:002013-04-22T15:20:03.220-04:00What's that aroma?Congratulations to 2010-2011 Moore Fund fellow Dan Visconti for being selected one of the winners of the prestigious Rome Prize competition. Here's a <a href="http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/eric-nathan-and-dan-visconti-to-head-to-rome/">link to the story</a> on NewMusicBox.Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635199088450227688.post-77543067410523127112013-04-15T13:26:00.001-04:002013-04-15T13:26:15.790-04:00Getting startedAlthough the Moore Fund first funded a fellowship in '04-'05, it hasn't been up on the world wide web. We are in the process of getting a website DouglasMooreFund.org going and it will go live by the end of the month.<br />
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The website and blog will be of interest to aspiring composers and librettists who want to learn more about breaking into the fields of opera and musical theater. It will also be of interest to fans of Douglas Moore's work and also a group of composers associated with him, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Beeson">Jack Beeson</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kander">John Kander.</a> Moore had a big influence on a generation of composers through his work producing opera at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/arts/music-reclaiming-a-rich-history-of-new-opera.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm">Columbia Opera Workshop.</a> You may be surprised to learn that the workshop premiered operas by composers such as Britten, Menotti, Thompson, and Ward.<br />
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<br />Michael Chinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547590256773766816noreply@blogger.com0