For Immediate Release - May 10, 2022 - (New York, NY) - Gregg Kallor's Frankenstein will receive its world premiere  at Arizona Opera during the 2023/24 season. As part of the development of the opera, a workshop was held at OPERA America in September 2021 with a team of artists and collaborators, including baritone Ed Parks, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson-Cano, conductor Nicole Paiement, dramaturg Cori Ellison, and director Sarah Meyers. A second workshop, with orchestra, will be held in December 2022 at the Arizona Opera Center.

Kallor’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel — the heartbreaking story about a living, feeling creature, brought into the world only to be forsaken by its creator, Victor Frankenstein — gives voice to the abandoned Creature, and lays bare the horror of alienation. "What drives my creation of this opera about a living being that is shunned and vilified for its “otherness” is Shelley's exquisitely wrought plea to look deeper within ourselves to find our commonality, and to uphold our responsibility to one another — which feels especially resonant at this moment,” says Kallor, the composer and librettist of Frankenstein. He continues, “For me, the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and our enforced physical isolation have brought into sharp focus our fundamental need to feel connected to each other. The Creature’s tragic existence is a stark reminder of the urgent need for empathy. I believe that telling this story, at this time and in this way, is vital."

President and General Director of Arizona Opera Joseph Specter said, “The timelessness of Shelley’s novel, combined with Gregg’s compelling score and libretto, will create an impactful opportunity for the opera art form to connect with both long-time devotees and newcomers alike. Frankenstein is a story that is as meaningful now as it was when it was published in 1818, and we believe this opera will become an important addition to the contemporary operatic canon.” Frankenstein is the third commissioned work in Arizona Opera’s history.

Kallor began his musical exploration of Frankenstein in 2018 by composing three scenes that were performed in the Catacombs of Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, presented by Death of Classical. The sold-out run, selected as one of the most memorable performances of the year by WQXR, was praised by Opera News as "a perfect balance of text and music" from "a singular compositional voice." Limelight Magazine wrote, "Kallor’s dynamically-charged score is intricate yet approachable with long, singable lines and plenty of moody atmosphere." Parterre Box called Kallor as "a musician of great atmospheric sensuality, [whose] portrait was complex, by turns frightening and sympathetic," and OperaWire heralded it as “a shattering, powerful experience.”

This Arizona Opera commission is funded in part by a gift from Linda and Stuart Nelson. To learn more, sign up HERE.