May 23: American Composers Orchestra Releases Huang Ruo’s Opera 'An American Soldier' on Platoon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations 
katy@primoartists.com | 646.801.9406 

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American Composers Orchestra
Announces the World Premiere
Recording of Huang Ruo’s 
An American Soldier

A Moving and Timely Opera Based on the
True Story of Young Chinese-American
Army Pvt. Danny Chen with Libretto by
David Henry Hwang 

Album Out on All Digital Platforms
Friday, May 23, 2025 on Platoon
Physical Copies Available Upon Request

First Single, “I’m Sorry Ama,” with Accompanying Music Video out May 9!

“rich orchestral palette and explosive vocal writing” – The Wall Street Journal

“a powerful piece of music theatre… beautifully written and touching” – Broadway World

“a powerful indictment of racism and a poignant statement” – Opera Magazine

www.americancomposers.org
 

New York, NY (April 16, 2025) – Hailed as an “essential organization” (The New York Times) with “an expansive vision of orchestral composition” (Represent Classical), the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) will release the world premiere recording of composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang’s moving and timely opera An American Soldier digitally via Platoon on Friday, May 23, 2025. This world premiere recording lands just before Memorial Day in the United States, May 26, which is also Danny Chen’s birthday. Chen would have been thirty-three years old this year. 

The first single, “I’m Sorry Ama,” and an accompanying music video will be available on all streaming platforms May 9, and the second single, “Moon Duet,” will be out May 16. This release marks the first of a series of albums planned by the American Composers Orchestra via a new partnership with Platoon.

Described as "taut and haunting" by The Wall Street Journal and "clearheaded" and "touching" by The New York Times, the opera is based on the true story of Chinese-American Army Pvt. Danny Chen, who was found dead in a guard tower at his base in Afghanistan in 2011, and the ensuing courts-martial of Chen’s fellow soldiers. The New York premiere of An American Soldier in May 2024 was co-produced by Perelman Performing Arts Center | PAC NYC, Boston Lyric Opera, and American Composers Orchestra, and co-commissioned by PAC NYC and Boston Lyric Opera.

Lauded for his “distinctive style” (The New York Times), composer Huang Ruo’s vibrant and inventive musical voice draws equal inspiration from Chinese ancient and folk music, the Western avant-garde, experimental music, noise, natural and processed sound, rock, and jazz. Best known for his plays, including M. Butterfly and Yellow Face, Tony, Obie, and GRAMMY-winner David Henry Hwang wrote the libretto for An American Soldier. Hwang is a prolific opera librettist, having written several operas with composers such as Philip Glass, Bright Sheng, and Unsuk Chin. An American Soldier was David Henry Hwang's first collaboration with Huang Ruo. 

The stellar cast of this recording from the 2024 PAC NYC production includes tenor Brian Vu as Danny Chen, mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen as his mother, soprano Hannah Cho as his school friend Josephine Young, and baritone Alex DeSocio as Sgt. Aaron Marcum, one of the soldiers charged in the investigation. Ensemble cast members include Ben Brady, Cierra Byrd, James C. Harris, Shelén Hughes, Joshua Sanders, and Christian Simmons.

Originally premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2018, the New York premiere of An American Soldier in May 2024 was directed by Obie Award-winning director Chay Yew and met by rave reviews – Classical Voice North America said ACO was “exactly the band you want for complex new orchestral music;” Stage and Cinema stated ”the story itself is so powerful and disturbing you cannot help being touched;” and New York Theater noted “Huang Ruo’s sophisticated, rhythmic, Asian-inflected score, performed by the 38-piece American Composers Orchestra and a gloriously-voiced ten-member cast.” 

2024 Production at Perelman Performing Arts Center. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.

An American Soldier Track Listing

ACT ONE:

1. Scene One: THE COURTROOM (JUDGE) [05:22]
2. Scene One: NO ONE’S LISTENING (DANNY) [01:55]
3. Scene Two: CHINATOWN ALL-AMERICAN DREAM (JOSEPHINE, DANNY) [02:34]
4. Scene Two: YOU CAN DO BETTER (JOSEPHINE, DANNY) [02:30]
5. Scene Two: I WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT (DANNY, JOSEPHINE) [03:46]
6. Scene Three: MOTHER CHEN (MOTHER CHEN, JUDGE, ROSE) [05:06]
7. Scene Three: DISOWNED? (MOTHER CHEN, DANNY, BAKER) [01:33]
8. Scene Four: HOW COULD YOU ENLIST? (MOTHER CHEN, DANNY) [03:06]
9. Scene Four: AN AMERICAN SOLDIER (DANNY, MOTHER CHEN) [02:45]
10. Scene Five: FORT BENNING (JUDGE, JOHNSTON, MOTHER CHEN, DANNY, JOSEPHINE, SOLDIERS) [03:36]
11. Scene Five: DRINKING SONG (SOLDIERS) [02:08]
12. Scene Six: FORT WAINRIGHT (GONZALEZ, STANTON, MOTHER CHEN, DANNY, JUDGE, SOLDIERS) [04:29]
13. Scene Six: HERO (DANNY, SOLDIER, MOTHER CHEN, JOSEPHINE) [05:20] 

ACT TWO:

14. Scene One: KANDAHAR (MARCUM, DANNY, SOLDIERS) [03:21]
15. Scene One: I’LL MAKE HIM A SOLDIER (MARCUM, JUDGE, SOLDIERS) [03:42]
16. Scene One: HEY DANNY (JOSEPHINE, DANNY, MOTHER CHEN) [05:04]
17. Scene One: MOON DUET (DANNY, JOSEPHINE) [04:10]
18. Scene Two: SPEAK CHINESE (MARCUM, HALDEMANN, DANNY, SOLDIERS) [03:44]
19. Scene Two: LOOK THE OTHER WAY (DANNY, MARCUM, HALDEMANN) [03:04]
20. Scene Three: MANNY DAVIS (DAVIS, DANNY, ROSE) [03:36]
21. Scene Three: VEGGE, PULL THE PLUG (PARKER, MOTHER CHEN, DANNY) [02:00]
22. Scene Three: I’M SORRY, AMA (DANNY) [03:41]
23. Scene Three: WHAT REAL WAR IS LIKE (MARCUM, MOTHER CHEN) [02:43]
24. Scene Three: WHAT IS AN AMERICAN? (MARCUM, MOTHER CHEN, DANNY, SOLDIERS )[03:46] 25. Scene Four: THE VERDICT (JUDGE, MOTHER CHEN) [03:44]
26. Scene Four: E PLURUBUS UNUM CHORUS (SERGEANT, SOLDIERS) [03:58]
27. Scene Four: AN AMERICAN DREAM (MOTHER CHEN, DANNY) [04:53]
28. Scene Four: SLEEP NOW, LITTLE ONE (MOTHER CHEN) [03:48] 

Total Time: [01:41:58]

Credits: 
The 2024 production was co-produced by Perelman Performing Arts Center | PAC NYC, Boston Lyric Opera, and American Composers Orchestra.

The 2024 version was co-commissioned by PAC NYC and Boston Lyric Opera.

A 60-minute version of the opera was commissioned by Washington National Opera and premiered there in 2014 as part of WNO’s American Opera Initiative. The full-length version of An American Soldier was originally commissioned by the Opera Theatre of St. Louis for its New Works, Bold Voices, and premiered in 2018. Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, agent for Future In REverse (FIRE), publisher and copyright owner, and David Henry Hwang. Special thanks to the Chen family and Elizabeth OuYang.

*Parental Advisory: This work includes explicit language that some listeners may find disturbing and may not be suitable for children.

About Huang Ruo
Huang Ruo has been lauded by The New Yorker as “one of the world’s leading young composers” and by The New York Times for having “a distinctive style.” His vibrant and inventive musical voice draws equal inspiration from Chinese ancient and folk music, Western avant-garde, experimental, noise, natural and processed sound, rock, and jazz. As a member of the new generation of Chinese composers, his goal is not just to mix both Western and Eastern elements, but also to create a seamless, organic integration. Huang Ruo’s diverse compositional works span from orchestra, chamber music, opera, theater, and dance, to cross-genre, sound installation, multi-media, experimental improvisation, folk rock, and film.

Huang Ruo’s music has been premiered and performed by orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, National Polish Radio Orchestra, Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic; ensembles and quartets such as Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Asko/Schoenberg Ensemble, Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, Remix Ensemble, Quatuor Diotima, and Ethel Quartet; and conductors such as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, Marin Alsop, Dennis Russell Davies, Ed Spanjaard, Peter Rundel, Alexander Liebreich, Xian Zhang, and Ilan Volkov.

Huang Ruo’s opera Dr. Sun Yat-Sen had its American premiere at the Santa Fe Opera in 2014 and will receive its Canadian premiere by the Vancouver Opera in a future season. His opera Paradise Interrupted received its world premiere at the Spoleto Festival USA in 2015 and was performed at the Lincoln Center Festival in 2016 before going on tour to Asia and Europe. In addition, his works were shown at Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, and Opera Hong Kong.

Huang Ruo was the first composer-in-residence of Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He is also in residence at the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan.

Huang Ruo was born in Hainan Island, China in 1976 – the year the Chinese Cultural Revolution ended. His father, who is also a composer, began teaching him composition and piano when he was six years old. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, when China was opening its gates to the Western world, he received both traditional and Western education at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. As a result of the dramatic cultural and economic changes in China following the Cultural Revolution, his education expanded from Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Lutoslawski, to include the Beatles, rock and roll, heavy metal, and jazz. Huang Ruo was able to absorb all of these newly allowed Western influences equally. After winning the Henry Mancini Award at the 1995 International Film and Music Festival in Switzerland, Huang Ruo moved to the United States to further his education. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from The Juilliard School.

Huang Ruo is currently on the composition faculty at the Mannes College of Music at the New School in New York. He is the artistic director and conductor of Ensemble FIRE (Future In REverse), and was selected as a Young Leader Fellow by the National Committee on United States–China Relations in 2006.

About David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang’s stage work includes the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, Yellow Face, Golden Child, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as Broadway musicals Soft Power, Aida, Flower Drum Song, and Disney's Tarzan. M. Butterfly was revived on Broadway in 2017 and Yellow Face was revived on Broadway in Fall 2024, starring Daniel Dae Kim.

Called "America’s most-produced living opera librettist" by Opera News, Hwang has written 13 libretti, including five with composer Philip Glass and three with Huang Ruo. An American Soldier had its New York premiere at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in May 2024. Ainadamar (with Osvaldo Golijov) was seen at the Metropolitan Opera in fall 2024.

Screenplays include M. Butterfly, and he is penning an Anna May Wong biopic to star actress Gemma Chan as well as a musical feature for Paramount Pictures. For television, he was a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair and is currently creating and show-running a new television series, Billion Dollar Whale. He also co-wrote the Gold Record “Solo” with the late pop music icon Prince. 

David Henry Hwang is a Tony Award winner and three-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, a GRAMMY Award winner who has been twice nominated, and a three-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. A professor at Columbia University School of the Arts, Hwang is a Trustee of the American Theatre Wing, where he served as Chair, and sits on the Council of the Dramatist Guild. Recent honors include a 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dramatists Guild, his 2022 induction onto the Lucille Lortel Playwrights’ Sidewalk, his 2021 election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and his 2018 induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame. 

About American Composers Orchestra
In 1977, a collective of fearless New York City musicians came together to form the American Composers Orchestra (ACO), an ensemble dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by American composers. Over more than 40 years committed to artistry, creativity, community, and equity, ACO has blossomed into a national institution that not only cultivates and develops the careers of living composers but also provides composers a direct pipeline to partnerships with many of America’s major symphony orchestras. 

In addition to its annual season, presented by Carnegie Hall since 1987, the ACO serves as a New York City hub where the most forward-thinking experimental American musicians come together to hone and realize new art by developing talent, established composers, and underrepresented voices, increasing the regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music.

ACO produces national educational programs for all ages, and composer advancement programs to foster a community of creators, audience, performers, collaborators, and funders – all dedicated to American composition. 

To date, ACO has performed music by 800 American composers, including over 350 world premieres and newly commissioned works. Recent and notable commissioned composers include John Luther Adams, Andy Akiho, Clarice Assad, Carlos Bandera, Courtney Bryan, Valerie Coleman, Dai Wei, Du Yun, inti figgis-vizueta, Marcus Gilmore, Vijay Iyer, Yvette Janine Jackson, Joan La Barbara, Steve Lehman, Tania León, Paula Matthusen, Trevor New, Mendi Keith Obadike, Ellen Reid, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Carlos Simon, Henry Threadgill, and many more.

Now encompassing all of ACO’s composer advancement initiatives, EarShot is the first ongoing, systematic program for developing relationships between composers and orchestras on the national level. Through orchestral readings, CoLABoratory fellowships, consortium commissions, publishing, and professional development, EarShot ensures a vibrant musical future by investing in creativity today. Serving over 350 composers since its inception, ACO Readings in NYC began in 1991, and since 2008, national Readings have been offered in partnership with orchestras across the country in collaboration with the League of American Orchestras, New Music USA, and American Composers Forum. EarShot Readings composers have gone on to win every major composition award, including the Pulitzer, Grammy, Grawemeyer, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Rome Prizes.

ACO has received numerous awards for its work, including those from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and from BMI recognizing the orchestra’s outstanding contribution to American music. ASCAP has awarded ACO its annual prize for adventurous programming 35 times, singling out ACO as “the orchestra that has done the most for new American music in the United States.” ACO received the inaugural MetLife Award for Excellence in Audience Engagement, and a proclamation from the New York City Council. Learn more at www.americancomposers.org. 

About Platoon
The multi-award and GRAMMY® winning label Platoon was acquired by Apple in 2018. The boutique artist services company identifies groundbreaking talent from around the world, while providing invaluable and innovative tools and services to build their careers and reach new fans. Platoon landed its first success shortly after their inception when they signed the then-unknown Billie Eilish, laying the groundwork for her ascent to global stardom, alongside other household names such as Mr Eazi and Victoria Monét. Current signings include Saint Harison, RZA, Khalid, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dalia Stasevska, and more. 

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Lead support for An American Soldier is provided by Betsy and Ed Cohen and the Arete Foundation, with additional support from Louise K. Smith and Anonymous.