Four-Day Program to Feature Facilitated Discussion and Case Studies
With Industry Leaders and Performances of New Operas

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, will convene its second New Works Forum, November 7-10, 2012, at the organization’s brand-new National Opera Center in New York. The Forum will bring together from across the country up to 75 opera producers, publishers, composers and librettists to explore organizational and artistic collaboration, address specific barriers to success and develop strategies to increase the number and quality of new works in the field at large. The New Works Forum is made possible by the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

“There are a great many factors that go into producing new works,” stated Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America. “In-depth knowledge of the contemporary cannon, fluency in the creative process and relationships with potential producing partners are all vital. For decades, OPERA America has been firmly committed to the development of new works, and with the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we will continue to expand that commitment.”

The 2012 New Works Forum will feature facilitated discussion, presentation of case studies and extended showcases of new works. These sessions will all be held at the National Opera Center, OPERA America’s custom-designed new headquarters, currently under construction in midtown Manhattan and scheduled to open in September 2012. This new facility, designed specifically by and for the opera community, will host a number of essential industry convenings, such as the New Works Forum. Taking advantage of the Opera Center’s state-of-the-art technological capabilities, several Forum sessions will be streamed live in HD to attendees in other cities.

New for 2012, OPERA America is collaborating with New York City Opera’s dynamic VOX program, a workshop for new American operatic works. VOX gives American composers and audiences the opportunity to hear professional performances of excerpts of new operatic works, un-staged, as read by members of the New York City Opera orchestra and soloists.

Not only will the 2012 New Works Forum feature essential discussions for the future of the field and the VOX workshop, but OPERA America will also present extended showcases of new works at the National Opera Center, including:

• All Wounds Bleed by Christopher Cerrone and Tony Asaro, supported by American Lyric Theater
• Heart of Darkness by Tarik O’Regan and Tom Phillips, published by G. Schirmer, Inc./AMP
• Dr. Sun Yat-sen by Huang Ruo, represented by Latitude 45 Arts Promotion, Inc.
• The Golden Gate by Conrad Cummings, supported by American Opera Projects

Other performances and events will be added to the schedule at a later date.

OPERA America’s commitment to the successful development of new North American operas is a longstanding one. Other OPERA America programs currently in place to encourage the development of new works include:

• The Salon Series, intimate performances of the works distinguished North American composers and librettists;
• New Works Exploration Grants, which provide support for administrators to attend performances of North American operas, to strengthen relationships between companies interested in pursuing the creation and production of new works;
• The New Works Sampler, a showcase of works-in-progress and recent premieres at OPERA America’s annual conference;
• The North American Works Directory, an online hub for information about North American opera and music-theater works; and
• The Opera Fund, which since 1984 has awarded nearly $11 million to encourage the creation, presentation and enjoyment of North American works.

The New Works Forum is made possible by the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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For more information on OPERA America, visit About Us.

For press inquiries, contact Press@operaamerica.org or 212.796.8628.