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Press Releases

Beth Morrison Projects Announces NEXTGEN 3 Semifinalists

October 29, 2024

For Immediate Release - (New York, NY) -  Beth Morrison Projects announces the first round of semifinalists that have been selected for the third edition of BMP: NEXTGENthe company's composer competition program for contemporary vocal works. BMP President and Creative Producer Beth Morrison says: "I couldn’t be more thrilled to announce the semi-finalists for this year's NEXTGEN. Fostering the next generation of creatives is core to BMP's mission, and we started this program many years ago to help BMP support and stay connected to the young talent coming up in opera and music-theatre. I feel strongly that this cohort exhibits the wide range of styles in which young composers today are writing, and I can’t wait to see what they will do to move the genre forward in the future!"

The ten selected semifinalists will participate in a weekend of live performances where their compositions will be presented at National Sawdust in New York City November 23rd and 24th2024. There will be a two-hour rehearsal for each composition during the week of November 15th - 20th followed by technical rehearsals between November 21st - 23rd, and one dress rehearsal. At the end of all the performances, our panel of industry professionals  will select two composers to move forward to the second round (finals) of NEXTGEN which will take place in 2025. This year's panel consists of Beth MorrisonChristopher Koelsch of the LA Opera, Peggy Monastra of Schirmer, composer Huang Ruo, and composer Paola PrestiniMissy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek will serve as mentors for the finalists. Further details for final round date and location are yet to be announced.

This year's semifinalists are Bobby Ge, Sepehr Pirasteh, Felipe Hoyos-González, Rachel Jenna Epperly, Adeliia Faizullina, Harriet Steinke, Paul Gabriel L. Cosme, Anuj Bhutani, Julia Moss, and Sam Wu.

Previous BMP: NEXTGEN winners include Emma O’Halloran (Cycle 1), who debuted her commissioned double bill work TRADE | MARY MOTORHEAD with playwright and librettist Mark O’Halloran at PROTOTYPE Festival 2023 to critical acclaim, and has since seen the production tour to LA Opera and the Irish National Opera; and Niloufar Nourbakhsh (Cycle 2) who won the competition with her work Threshold of Brightness and has since been commissioned for a full length work with librettist Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, premiering in coming BMP Seasons. Sam Linden, BMP Executive Director, says: "BMP: NEXTGEN is core to our mission to create a new American canon by fostering new, innovative creative voices. NEXTGEN provides an entry point for early-career professionals into the professional world by breaking down systemic barriers, and is a critical step toward a more vibrant, artist-centric industry.”

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