In 2019, Experiments in Opera started a new venture that marked a significant innovation in the opera development process.  Rather than think about operas as four—six-year projects made by individual librettists and composers, and inspired by television writers’ rooms, EiO assembled a group of playwrights, librettists, storytellers and composers to collaborate on a single large-scale opera.  This group of artists works together on script outlines, story ideas, librettos and musical scores. The Writers’ Room project addresses EiO’s mission to rethink the process of creating opera and to nurture new voices as part of a community of artistry and learning.

The Writers’ Room is currently in the midst of its third cycle and will culminate in the June 2024 premiere of Five Ways to Die at HERE Arts Center.

We will be launching the call for proposal for the fourth writers room in May 2024.  This next group of artists will start work in September and will continue collaborating together through the spring of 2026. Stay tuned for more information about this application process.

Previous Writers’ Rooms:

In celebration of EiO’s 10th Anniversary, the company launched its first Writers’ Room and embarked on an epic new video opera series titled Everything for Dawn. Learn more about the artists and the work here. 

During the 2020-2021 season, Experiments in Opera convened a second iteration of the Writers’ Room to produce the podcast opera, Aqua Net & Funyuns.  Learn more about the artists involved in this remotely-produced opera and listen to the five delirious stories here.