The unique partnership between Cincinnati Opera and UC’s College-Conservatory of Music proves to be a vital resource for the creation of new American opera.
In a society that craves innovation, opera can sometimes seem like an anomaly. Popular sentiment has often deemed opera to be a throwback—an art form with rich history and traditions, but perhaps one that’s stuck in the past.
Lincoln in the Bardo composer Missy Mazzoli (center) with librettist Royce Vavrek (at left) at the opera’s Opera Fusion: New Works workshop in November 2023 at Cincinnati Music Hall. Photo: Mikki Schaffner.
In fact, the evidence points to the opposite. A quick survey of opera houses across the country proves that new opera is springing up everywhere and that audiences’ appetite for new works is steadily growing.
Some credit for this shift can likely go to the success of Opera Fusion: New Works (or OF:NW, for short). Launched in 2011 with funding from the Mellon Foundation, OF:NW is a one-of-its-kind creative partnership between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) that serves as an incubator for new American opera.
Through the program, composers and librettists are invited to a 10-day workshop in Cincinnati to take their operas-in-progress to the next stage. They’re able to tap into the combined resources of Cincinnati Opera and CCM—namely, performing artists, stage personnel, and administrative and creative support—to work out the kinks and refine their pieces in preparation for a fully-staged production.
OF:NW’s successful track record serves as a key indicator of its value. The last two performance seasons alone included full productions of the following operas that were originally workshopped by OF:NW:
Terence Blanchard’s Champion and Kevin Puts’s The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera
Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater
Tobias Picker and Aryeh Lev Stollman’s Awakenings at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Castor and Patience by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith, which premiered at Cincinnati Opera in summer 2022 and was dubbed a New York Times “Critic’s Pick”
At the May 2023 workshop for The Righteous: conductor William Langley, OF:NW co-artistic directors Robin Guarino and Evans Mirageas, composer Gregory Spears, librettist Tracy K. Smith, and director Kevin Newbury. Photo: Philip Groshong.
What’s more, Spears and Smith’s most recent work, The Righteous, received an OF:NW workshop in May 2023 and is slated for its 2024 world premiere at Santa Fe Opera. This year has also included a workshop for Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s new opera based on George Saunders’s acclaimed novel Lincoln in the Bardo, commissioned by the Met. And two more workshops are imminent: Two Corners by B.E. Boykin and Jarrod Lee (December 2023), and Bulrusher by Nathaniel Stookey and Eisa Davis (January 2024).
Looking ahead, OF:NW will host a workshop for Cincinnati Opera’s next, yet-to-be-announced world premiere opera, which will be part of the company’s 2025 Summer Festival.
Keep your eyes on this special program—it’s arguably where some of our nation’s most exciting new opera is born.
For more information, visit ofnw.org.
Adapted and updated from Cincinnati Opera’s 2023 program book