New Opera Comic Book – Volume One: The Magic Flute – Out Now via Conductor Elizabeth Askren’s MaestraMagic! Edutainment Series

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

 Conductor Elizabeth Askren’s MaestraMagic! Edutainment Series
Releases New Opera Comic Book – Volume One: The Magic Flute

Comic Book Marks the Expansion of Askren’s Children’s Show MaestraMagic!,
Created With Her Daughter Lily During the Spring of 2020 on DallasOpera.TV

Learn More and Watch Season One of MaestraMagic! 

OUT NOW on Amazon!
Physical Review Copies Available Upon Request

www.elizabethaskren.com/maestra-magic
 

New York, NY (March 12, 2025) – Praised for “inspiring virtuosic achievements from the pit” (Opera Today) and “palpable happiness” (Le Monde) from the artists with whom she collaborates, international conductor Dr. Elizabeth Askren has released the first volume of her new opera comic book series Volume One: The Magic Flute, available on Amazon.

In the spring of 2020, Askren created and hosted the mixed-media children’s edutainment show MaestraMagic! with her daughter Lily. Inspired by PBS’ Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts, the show teaches music and life lessons in an engaging and heartwarming way as it introduces young viewers to instruments, creativity, and important values like empathy and teamwork. 

Written and adapted by Askren, MaestraMagic!'s The Magic Flute is an innovative comic book that brings opera storytelling into the hands and ears of readers great and small. The story can be followed using both the visual illustrations and the accompanying audio excerpts through musical QR codes, providing a uniquely enhanced experience.
 
The Magic Flute’s readers follow Prince Tamino's journey as he and his friends face challenges, learn important lessons about honesty and love, and discover the strength to overcome obstacles. With illustrations by Daryna Kudenko and a visual narrative adaptation by Anca Stefania Robu, this vibrant adaptation is perfect for elementary school-aged and homeschooled children as it makes opera exciting and relatable while sharing lessons about character and values.

Askren explains, “I created MaestraMagic! in the spring of 2020 with my then seven-year-old daughter while homeschooling her in our home in Transylvania, Romania during the COVID lockdown. During this time of fear and uncertainty, we searched for a children's entertainment show that was gentle and kind, and focused on music. To my surprise, there was nothing available. Looking at my imaginative daughter, who loved to sing and perform, I thought, ‘We have the creativity and definitely the time, so let’s create a show ourselves!’ And our passion project adventure began.”

About MaestraMagic!
MaestraMagic! is a mixed-media children’s edutainment show featuring conductor Elizabeth Askren and her daughter Lily as co-hosts.

Maestra Askren created MaestraMagic! while homeschooling her daughter in Transylvania during the COVID lockdown, drawing inspiration from such formative PBS educational series as Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and Sesame Street, along with Leonard Bernstein's immensely popular Young People’s Concerts.

The result is a gentle, inviting children's program which celebrates the essence of humanity through the music we make from our natural world.

About Elizabeth Askren
Praised for “inspiring virtuosic achievements from the pit” (Opera Today) and “palpable happiness” (Le Monde) from the artists with whom she collaborates, Elizabeth Askren empowers musicians around the world as a conductor, educator, and cultural activist.

Her musical leadership is described by La Croix as “present on each  line, each silence.” An OPERA America 2024 Opera Grant winner, Askren performs regularly with leading opera houses and orchestras throughout North America and Europe, including The Dallas Opera, with which she enjoys a privileged relationship as a guest conductor, master teacher, and creative producer, and Hawaii Opera Theatre, of which she is the company's first-ever Principal Guest Conductor.

Askren is the Music Director of composer Paola Prestini and poet Brenda Shaughnessey’s Sensorium Ex, a Ford Foundation-funded multi-modal arts project exploring issues at the intersection of AI, disability, and the human voice. Aiming to pioneer new approaches to creating opera in the 21st century, Sensorium Ex is produced by VisionIntoArt and Beth Morrison Projects and enjoys support from presenting partners The Kennedy Center, National Sawdust, The Shed, and The Washington National Opera.

Maestra Askren is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Transylvanian Opera Academy (TOA), Romania’s first opera studio. Offering a 360° approach to education, TOA guides its young artists to develop holistically as mature artists, centered individuals, and ambassadors of their art to their local communities. Since its creation in 2017, TOA has been featured on national television, radio, and press, while establishing international partnerships with the Paris Opera’s Academy, the Philharmonie de Paris’ La Maestra competition, and Opera for Peace.

Deeply committed to sharing classical music with a broader audience, Askren is the creator and host of the children’s edutainment series MaestraMagic!, a multimedia production combining live action, animation, and puppets in a program compared to Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts series. MaestraMagic!'s Season 1 was picked up by The Dallas Opera, and was a finalist for Shark Tank's Season 15.

A master teacher at both The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute and at the Paris Opera’s Academy, Askren made history by judging the Paris Philharmonic’s inaugural La Maestra Competition for Women Conductors alongside her mentor, Marin Alsop. Askren now offers an innovative online masterclass series drawing on the full breadth of her practical experience and pedagogy.

Maestra Askren is invited regularly to speak about leading and entrepreneurship in the arts, mentoring young artists, and cultivating humanity in the age of AI. Her TEDx talk, Why Classical Music is the Wave of the Future, garnered more than 4,500 views in under 48 hours. She is featured regularly in the American and European media, through outlets including PBS Newshour, NPR, Radio France Internationale, and France Musique. 

Askren holds degrees in piano and conducting from The Juilliard School,  Oberlin Conservatory, and the Conducting Institute of Bard in the United States, as well as the Schola Cantorum, the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, and the Romanian National Academy of Music Gheorghe Dima in Europe. Her musical mentors include conductors Marin Alsop and Lorin Maazel, along with pianists Byron Janis and Sergio Perticaroli/Germaine Tocatlian. She was awarded the highest teaching diplomas from both the French Ministry of Culture (VAE, certificat d’aptitude en direction d’ensembles orchestrales) and the Romanian Ministry of Education (PhD, magna cum laude), and completed administrative training from Harvard’s Kennedy School, Christie’s Education, and Paris’ Cité de la Musique. 

When not performing abroad, Askren divides her time between New York, France, and Transylvania. An enthusiastic contributor to her local communities, she has served on educational and philanthropic boards and consults for nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Europe. Learn more at www.elizabethaskren.com. 

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