Flash Operas


Mandela Was Late
Music and Libretto by Nicole Murphy
Based on a short story by Peter Mehlman

An imagined conversation between Nelson Mandela and his parole officer that illustrates the preposterous and lingering prejudices of post-apartheid South Africa.

Mandela Was Late – LINK TO SCORE

ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Australian composer Nicole Murphy is the recipient of numerous international awards, including the Theodore Front Orchestral Prize. She has been commissioned by eminent arts organisations including the Australian Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Wild Rumpus (San Francisco), Chamber Sounds (Singapore) & Ba Da Boom Percussion. Her music has been performed by ensembles such as the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Ars Nova (Dallas), Halcyon (Sydney) & Chronology Arts (Sydney). Nicole is currently completing a PhD at the University of Queensland. More about Nicole.


Things You Should Know 
Music and Libretto by Miguel Frasconi
Based on a short story by A.M. Homes

A nameless narrator laments his past ignorance about his formal education and wonders how societal norms are passed among generations.

Things You Should Know – LINK TO SCORE

ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Miguel is a composer and improvisor specializing in the relationship between acoustic objects and musical form.  His latest opera, Hand To Mouth, was premiered in northern California in 2015, while a theater score he co-composed and performed was recently presented at Japan Society, NYC. Miguel has collaborated with the Balinese composer Dewa Berata, with tenor John Duykers, and with the Tibetan songwriter Techung, and has worked with composers John Cage, Jon Hassell, James Tenney, Morton Subotnick. He is presently a member of Ne(x)works (2006-present), one of the leading new music ensembles in NYC.  More about Miguel.


Pledge Drive
Music and Libretto by Cristina Lord
Based on a short story by Patricia Marx

Patty Marx is the focus of a hilarious fundraising pitch by home-shopping network-style hosts, hell bent on financing Patty’s career as a writer.

Pledge Drive – LINK TO SCORE

ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Cristina is a California-based composer, pianist, vocalist, and educator. While primarily a composer of concert works, she also writes for media, artist collaborations, and creates ambient/indie electronic music as a solo artist. She has written for ensembles such as Gnarwhallaby, Friction Quartet, HOCKET, Choral Arts Initiative, and the Southern California Brass Consortium. Cristina completed her MM degree in Composition at CSULB in May 2016. There, she was the pianist in the New Music Ensemble, sung in the University Choir, and composed and performed for Laptop Ensemble (of which she is still an active member).   More about Cristina.


Level
Music and Libretto by Matthew Welch
Based on a short story by Keith Scribner

An expectant mother struggles with how to respond to her increasingly obsessed husband, who is intent on levelling all of the furniture and pictures in their apartment before the baby comes.

Level – LINK TO SCORE

ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Named one of “14 artists changing the future of opera,” by Huffington Post and regarded as “a composer possessed of both rich imagination and the skill to bring his fancies to life” by Time Out NY, Matthew Welch’s musical adventures and collaborative spirit have brought him to work with some of today’s most noted musical personalities, Alvin Lucier, Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Julia Wolfe, Zeena Parkins, and Ikue Mori. His third disc of his own music, Dream Tigers (Tzadik, 2005), containing his critically lauded string quartet, Siubhal Turnlar, made both Time Out New York’s classical and non-classical top-ten CD lists for the year 2005. Mr. Welch’s compositions run the gamut from opera, to traditional-like bagpipe tunes, electronic pieces, improvisation strategies and fully notated works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, orchestras, gamelans and other non-western instruments. Matthew is co-founder of Experiments in Opera. More about Matthew.


The Wallet 
Music and Libretto by Aaron Siegel
Based on a short story by Andrew McCuaig

A tollbooth worker is faced with an ethical quandary as she is accosted in her booth by a battered woman.

The Wallet – LINK TO SCORE

ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Aaron Siegel  is a composer, writer, educator and producer from Brooklyn, NY.  In addition to his work with Experiments in Opera, his most recent activities include a collaboration with Young People’s Chorus of New York City, a song cycle for soprano Michele Kennedy based on the poems of Tess Taylor, and a book of short works for prepared vibraphone.  A recently recorded collection of duos for piano and vibraphone called Book of Notions was released in fall  2016.  Aaron is one of the co-founders of Experiments in Opera and is on the education staff at Carnegie Hall.  More about Aaron.


The Voices in My Head 
Music and Libretto by Jason Cady
Based on a short story by Jack Handey

A madcap conversation among a host of characters inside the head of a quiet, neurotic man.

The Voices in My Head – LINK TO SCORE

ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Jason Cady writes music and stories for small-scale operas and composes instrumental and electronic music. He performs on pedal steel, modular synthesizer and other instruments. Pitchfork described his recent work—The Captives—as “funny and engaging.” WQXR praised his opera Happiness is the Problem for keeping “the energy hovering at 11 consistently, fusing the coloratura of Mozart’s ‘Queen of the Night’ with Glass at his most hyper-caffeinated; you’re left gasping at the end, while admiring the psychological underpinnings.” Cady was born in 1974 in Flint, Michigan and has lived in New York City since 2001.  More about Jason.