American Lyric Theater Announces Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative

American Lyric Theater Announces Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative (OWDARI) to Increase Participation in its “Essential Contemporary Opera Lab” (New Yorker) by BIPOC Artists    

With free virtual Opera Writers Symposium February 27 – April 4, American Lyric Theater seeks to introduce storytellers from diverse racial and artistic backgrounds to ALT’s approach to the development of new opera and encourage applications to the Composer Librettist Development Program, the country’s only full-time mentorship for emerging opera composers, librettists and dramaturgs

Key to Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative is the appointment of Kelly Kuo to a newly created post of Associate Artistic Director, sharing artistic and curatorial responsibilities with ALT founder Lawrence Edelson

NEW YORK, NY – February 3, 2021 – Today American Lyric Theater (ALT) announces the Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative (OWDARI) as part of an ongoing commitment to mentoring the next generation of operatic writers. In consultation with an Advisory Committee comprised of BIPOC artists and related experts in the field, through the OWDARI, ALT is examining every part of the company’s operations with the goal of addressing structural inequality and racism and increasing participation by BIPOC artists in the company’s flagship Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP).      

First steps in the OWDARI include the appointment of conductor Kelly Kuo as ALT’s new Associate Artistic Director and the creation of a free, virtual Opera Writers Symposium, a series of workshops and mini-seminars open to writers and composers from diverse racial and artistic backgrounds to explore opera as a storytelling art form. No previous experience in writing opera is necessary.

“In order to address the artistic vitality of the field and the diversity of works being produced, we must address who is being trained and given the opportunity to write new operas,” says ALT’s Founder Lawrence Edelson. “Through the lens of the OWDARI, our goal is to address structural inequality and increase participation in ALT’s training and commissioning programs by BIPOC artists. We must acknowledge the past to give voice to the future. ALT is committed to racial justice through action to ensure that the work we do reflects the vibrancy of contemporary American society. I am thrilled to welcome Kelly Kuo to ALT in the newly created post of Associate Artistic Director, where his expertise and passion for mentoring the next generation of artists will help to shape ALT’s programs and foster the writers who will help to define the future of American opera.”

Conductor Kelly Kuo’s appointment to ALT’s newly created post of Associate Artistic Director is key to the OWDARI. In this role, Kuo will share artistic and curatorial responsibilities with founder Lawrence Edelson.  Praised by the Cincinnati Enquirer as “a leader of exceptional musical gifts, who has a clear technique on the podium and an impressive rapport with audiences,” conductor, pianist and coach Kelly Kuo has performed over 90 operas – including numerous world premieres - and countless works of the symphonic repertoire. Kuo was the first conductor of Asian descent to lead a performance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, making his company debut with Porgy and Bess.  He has since returned to lead the Chicago premiere of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird and performances featuring artists of the Ryan Opera Center. Other recent operatic engagements have included Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Kentucky Opera, Anchorage Opera, and the Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center. 

“It is a privilege to be welcomed as a collaborator at a time when American Lyric Theater is intentionally seeking to expand participation and contributions from the BIPOC community,” says Kelly Kuo. “We have to continually ask ourselves how we can do more. It takes a village in any situation to produce a successful artist. The OWDARI is as much about addressing the village as it is about addressing future artists – the recruiting, the marketing, the research, engagement, financial support – all of these are typical barriers in reaching the BIPOC community.     

“Through the OWDARI, ALT is establishing a support system that makes the creation of opera a more viable choice for future generations of BIPOC composers and librettists. It is an honor to be a part of the ALT team going forward, because I truly believe we win – not only as a country, but as humanity – when racial diversity is embraced.”

Kuo will be one of the distinguished artists leading American Lyric Theater’s virtual CLDP Opera Writers Symposium, a free, eight-week, virtual series of mini-seminars and online workshops running from February 27 – April 24, 2021. The symposium will provide practical tools for both first-time and experienced artists with an interest in developing new works for the operatic stage. The courses will also offer artists a glimpse into American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), a two-year, tuition-free professional training program for writers interested in creating new operas that includes extensive mentorship and direct financial support.

The CLDP Opera Writers Symposium is free and open to artists from all genres interested in learning about writing for the operatic stage. Classes will address topics such as Dramatizing History and Opera as Activism led by composer Anthony Davis and dramaturg Cori Ellison; Opera, Technology and Innovation with composers Kamala Sankaram and Jorge Sosa; From Erased to Self-Empowered: Celebrating BIPOC Opera Composers and Librettists led by Kelly Kuo and The Architecture of Opera led by Composer/Librettist Mark Adamo. Guest speakers during the symposium include composers Missy Mazzoli, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Huang Ruo and Errollyn Wallen; and librettists Mark Campbell, Thulani Davis, David Henry Hwang, and Andrea Davis Pinkney.  More class information at www.altnyc.org.

Lead funding for American Lyric Theater’s Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative and the 2021 Opera Writers Symposium has been provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from OPERA America Innovation Grants supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation.

COMPOSER LIBRETTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (CLDP) 
2021 OPERA WRITERS SYMPOSIUM
FEBRUARY 27 – APRIL 24, 2021 

THE ARCHITECTURE OF OPERA: OUTLINING FOR COMPOSERS AND LIBRETTIST 
Led by ALT Faculty Mentor, Composer / Librettist Mark Adamo 
 
Saturday, February 27, 2021 @ Noon – 3pm ET 
Saturday, March 13, 2021 @ Noon – 3pm ET 
Saturday, March 27, 2021 @ Noon – 3pm ET 

DRAMATIZING HISTORY AND OPERA AS ACTIVISM  

Tuesday, March 9, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm  ET 
Thursday, March 11, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET   

OPERA, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION 
Led by ALT Alumni, Composers Kamala Sankaram and Jorge Sosa 
With user experience designer Richard Rodkin, sound designer Jon Robertson, director Elena Araoz, designer Jeanette Oi Suk Yew, conductor Maria Sensi Sellner, and librettist Rob Handel
 
Monday, March 22, 2021 @ 7:30pm ET 
Wednesday, March 24, 2021 @ 7:30pm ET 
Friday, March 26, 2021 @ 7:30pm ET   

FROM ERASED TO SELF-EMPOWERED:  CELEBRATING BIPOC OPERA COMPOSERS AND LIBRETTISTS 
Led by ALT’s Associate Artistic Director, Kelly Kuo 
With composers Daniel Bernard Roumain, Justine F. Chen, Anthony Davis, Huang Ruo, and Errollyn Wallen; and librettists Richard Wesley, David Henry Hwang, Kanika Ambrose, and Andrea Davis Pinkey
 
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET 
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET 
Thursday, April 8, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET 
 
Saturday, April 10, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET – CONCERT 

BIPOC artists have written for operas for centuries, but until recently, most of their contributions to the repertoire were consciously erased from the opera house. We take a look back at the history of BIPOC writers in opera, and are then joined by a group of remarkable BIPOC composers and librettists changing the face of opera today to discuss why they are drawn to opera; navigating racism in the field; and the complementary value of allyship and self-empowerment in advancing their work.      The      seminar concludes with a virtual concert on Saturday, April 10 celebrating operas by BIPOC composers and librettists from the 18^th century to today. 

WRITING OPERA AND THE LAW:  A LEGAL PRIMER FOR COMPOSERS AND LIBRETTIST 
Led by Entertainment Lawyer James Kendrick 
With ALT’s Founder Lawrence Edelson, and music publishing guests TBA
 
Saturday, April 17, 2021 @ 4pm – 6pm ET 
Sunday, April 18^t, 2021 @ 4pm – 6pm ET  

HOW TO HAVE A HAPPY MARRIAGE: COLLABORATION BEST PRACTICES  
Led by dramaturg Cori Ellison and ALT’s Founder Lawrence Edelson 
With composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek; composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Rob Handel; composer Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell; composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann; and composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang
 
Tuesday, April 20, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET 
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET 
Thursday, April 22, 2021 @ 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET   

IS THE CLDP FOR ME? 
INFORMATION SESSION AND ROUNDTABLE 
Led by ALT’s Founder Lawrence Edelson and ALT’s Associate Artistic Director Kelly Kuo
With CLDP alumni composers and librettist
Saturday, April 24, 2021 @ 4:00pm – 5:30pm ET 

ABOUT KELLY KUO

Kelly Kuo brings an extensive background as a conductor, pianist, educator, and administrator to leadership roles in arts organizations around the world.  In addition to his demanding performance schedule, he is a strong advocate for music education, having initiated and developed important mentoring programs that continue to influence the lives and careers of young artists.

Praised by the Cincinnati Enquirer as “a leader of exceptional musical gifts, who has a clear technique on the podium and an impressive rapport with audiences,” Kelly brings a dynamic versatility and nuance to a wide range of works, which includes over 90 operas and an expansive symphonic repertoire.  His past operatic engagements include Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Kentucky Opera, the Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Center, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.  In 2008, Kelly became the first conductor of Asian descent to lead a performance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, making his company debut with Porgy and Bess.  He has since returned to lead the Chicago premiere of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird and performances featuring artists of the Ryan Opera Center.

Maestro Kuo has demonstrated a commitment to contemporary American opera in particular.  Notably, he led critically praised new productions of Philip Glass' Galileo Galilei for both Madison Opera and Cincinnati Opera, as well as premieres of Daron Hagen’s A Woman in Morocco and the chamber orchestration for Jake Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus during his seven-year tenure as Music Director and Conductor of the Butler Opera Center at The University of Texas at Austin.  While on faculty, he also served as interim director of the New Music Ensemble and oversaw the expansion of the first doctorate program for opera coaching in the United States.  His service on grant panels for OPERA America focusing on the creation and support of new works further evidences his dedication to giving voice to the next generation of artists.

Appointed Artistic Director and Conductor of Oregon Mozart Players in 2012, Kelly has gained a reputation for exceptionally creative programming as well as consummate musicianship, having “transformed this chamber group into...a band of professional, enthusiastic, and superior musicians, playing confidently as one unit" (The Register Guard).  To forge partnerships between the organization and the community, he launched a Young Soloist Competition, nurtured an annual side-by-side collaboration with the Eugene Springfield Youth Orchestras, and introduced an Assistant Conductor position with connections to the University of Oregon.  Equally active in the symphonic and administrative worlds, his recent highlights include concerts with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and Lexington Philharmonic, as well as four years as Artistic Administrator of Opera Pacific.  Maestro Kuo also curated and conducted the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra’s inaugural Summermusik festival as Interim Music Director.

An Oregon native and recipient of a Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistant Award for young conductors, Kuo resides in Cincinnati and continues to concertize as the only pianist to have studied with two pupils of the Russian virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz. He is the resident pianist for the Zenith Chamber Music Festival and regularly performs recitals with the Kasarah Trio. Maestro Kuo is a distinguished graduate of the University of Oregon, holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and is an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera Studio.

ABOUT AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER

American Lyric Theater (ALT) was founded by Lawrence Edelson in 2005 to build a new body of operatic repertoire for new audiences by nurturing composers and librettists, developing sustainable artistic collaborations, and contributing new works to the national canon.

Launched in 2007 and recognized as the preeminent training program for opera writers in the country dedicated to, American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP) provides tuition-free professional mentorship as well as direct financial support for both composers and librettists. The two-year program embraces musical storytellers from diverse backgrounds and features a unique curriculum of classroom training and hands-on workshops with some of the country’s leading working artists. For the 2021–22 season, principal faculty mentors will include composer/librettist Mark Adamo, librettist Mark Campbell, composer Anthony Davis, stage director Lawrence Edelson, dramaturg Cori Ellison, conductor Kelly Kuo, and a host of internationally acclaimed guest artists.

Prominent alumni of ALT’s Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP) include composers Clarice Assad, Christopher Cerrone, Justine F. Chen, Kamala Sankaram, Jorge Sosa, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and Jeremy Howard Beck; and librettists Deborah Brevoort, Lorene Cary, Julian Crouch, E.M. Lewis, Lila Palmer, Royce Vavrek, and Stephanie Fleischmann. Operas developed through the CLDP, and by CLDP alumni, have been presented by a wide variety of companies, including Tulsa Opera, Opera Saratoga, Fort Worth Opera, Urban Arias, Fargo Moorhead Opera, San Francisco Conservatory, New York City Opera VOX, and Beth Morrison Projects; and alumni of the CLDP have been commissioned by opera companies across the country, including Washington National Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, LA Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and The Metropolitan Opera.

In 2012, ALT was the first company dedicated to artist mentorship rather than operatic production to recognized by OPERA America as a Professional Company Member — a testament to ALT’s service to the field. 

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