Music and libretto by Sarah Kirkland Snider
Stage direction by Elkhanah Pulitzer
Dramaturgy by Annie Jin Wang

Produced and commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Hildegard imagines three of the most pivotal events in the life of 12th-century German Benedictine nun, visionary, composer, and polymath Hildegard von Bingen. The opera begins in the year 1147, when Hildegard begins transcribing her visions of God. She enlists the assistance of a young convalescent, Richardis von Stade, and the two women quickly develop a transformative partnership that awakens them creatively, spiritually, and—much to the internal conflict of both women—romantically. As their story unfolds, an unforeseen crisis threatens both their hard-won accomplishments and the intimacy, in all its complexity and secrecy, that has become their salvation.

A public performance of excerpts from Hildegard took place on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. (ET) at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio (1241 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202).

Music by Kevin Day
Libretto by Tifara Brown
Stage Direction and Dramaturgy by Kimille Howard

Set in the distant future, we follow the journey of Persephone, the youngest teenage daughter of the Primus of Atlas, formerly the city of Atlanta. Currency and status in Atlas are determined based on the presence of Syndica, a rare gene that promotes vitality and longevity. When Persephone is found to possess this gene, she is betrayed by her family and must run for her life. She is thrust into an epic adventure, uncovering a hidden past that leads her to discover love’s true meaning and the power to determine her own destiny.

Lalovavi (pronounced lah-low-VAH-vee)* is anticipated to be the first grand opera on an Afrofuturist theme—a large-scale work in three acts for soloists, chorus, and orchestra.

*Tut is a language that is indigenous to Black Americans and passed down from their enslaved ancestors, who developed Tut as a mechanism for learning how to read and write when it was illegal for them to do so. The title of the opera, “lalovavi,” is the Tut word for “love.”

Lalovavi has been commissioned by Cincinnati Opera and is made possible in part through the generosity of lead funder The David C. Herriman Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation.

A public performance of excerpts was held Monday, May 13, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio (1241 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202).

Photos: Philip Groshong

Music by Carlos Simon
Libretto by Lynn Nottage and Ruby Aiyo Gerber

In the near future amid the flood-ravaged Louisiana territory known as The Highlands, the matriarch of the Lenox family informs her heirs of a deeply-held family secret—that they are the keepers of an ancient griot magic originating with their African ancestors. On the eve of Carnival, one of the Lenox siblings—Clarence, Darius, or their younger sister, Lucinda—will inherit this great gift, as well as the responsibilities that come with it. When the family’s secret is revealed, members of their community debate how it should be used and whom it should benefit. Amid arguments and struggles, the magic is eventually entrusted to the compassionate yet reluctant Lucinda, who must decide how best to wield its power.

The Highlands has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center New Works Program.

A public performance of excerpts was held Saturday, March 23, 2024 at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio.

Performance photos by Philip Groshong

Music by Nathaniel Stookey
Libretto by Eisa Davis and Nathaniel Stookey
Based on the play by Eisa Davis

In 1955, in the redwood country north of San Francisco, a restless Black girl lives in a predominantly white town whose residents pepper their speech with the historical dialect of Boontling. Found floating in a basket on the river as an infant, Bulrusher is an orphan with a gift for clairvoyance that makes her feel like a stranger even amongst the strange: the taciturn schoolteacher who adopted her, the madam who runs her brothel with a fierce discipline, the logger with a zest for horses and women, and the guitar-slinging boy who is after Bulrusher's heart. Just when she thought her world might close in on her, she discovers an entirely new sense of self when a black girl from Alabama comes to town.

Bulrusher has been commissioned by West Edge Opera.

A public performance of excerpts took place Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.

Music by B.E. Boykin
Libretto by Jarrod Lee

Two Corners explores the evolving friendship of a Black woman, Florine, and a white woman, Sarah, during the unrest of the Civil Rights movement. Told through a series of flashbacks, Florine and Sarah reflect on their different perspectives of race, friendship, and the status quo. Two Corners was commissioned by Finger Lakes Opera and is slated for a 2024 world premiere.

A public performance of excerpts took place Sunday, Dec. 17 at 4:00 p.m. in Wilks Studio at Music Hall.

Music by Missy Mazzoli
Libretto by Royce Vavrek

Lincoln in the Bardo is a new opera by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by George Saunders, which spins a fantastical and supernatural tale inspired by a true historical event. In the early days of the Civil War, President Lincoln’s beloved 11-year-old son, Willie, dies unexpectedly and is laid to rest at Georgetown Cemetery. A grief-stricken Lincoln returns several times to the crypt to hold his son’s body. Meanwhile, Willie finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie’s soul. As in the novel, the opera employs a kaleidoscopic panorama of voices to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end? (Description adapted from Penguin Random House.)

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and a co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera, Lincoln in the Bardo is slated to receive its world premiere in 2026.

OF:NW November 2023

Photos by Mikki Schaffner

Music by Gregory Spears
Libretto by Tracy K. Smith

The Righteous is the newest opera from composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K. Smith, the creative team behind Cincinnati Opera’s celebrated 2022 world premiere, Castor and Patience. Kevin Newbury (Castor and Patience, Fellow Travelers) will serve as stage director and dramaturg.

Commissioned by Santa Fe Opera and slated for a summer 2024 world premiere, The Righteous follows a preacher and leader of a growing church in the 1980s American Southwest, who finds himself caught up in the confluence of religion and politics, and the timeless struggle to reconcile spiritual humility with ambition in our modern world.

OF:NW May 15, 2023

Cohen Family Studio Theater University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

Music by Scott Davenport Richards
Libretto by Scott Davenport Richards and David Cote
Dramaturgy and stage direction by Robin Guarino

Robeson is an epic and inspiring biographical examination of Black singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976). A global superstar, Robeson leveraged his fame to fight on the frontlines for equality. His heroic and uncompromising efforts against fascism and racism worldwide led Robeson to be entangled in the tragic power struggle between the two superpowers of the twentieth century—the United States and the USSR—with his own life and career hanging in the balance. Inspired by historical events, Robeson also resonates with today’s ongoing fights for social justice.

OF:NW April 13, 2023

Photos by Philip Groshong

Music by Scott Davenport Richards
Libretto by Scott Davenport Richards and David Cote
Dramaturgy and stage direction by Robin Guarino

Robeson is an epic and inspiring biographical examination of Black singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976). A global superstar, Robeson leveraged his fame to fight on the frontlines for equality. His heroic and uncompromising efforts against fascism and racism worldwide led Robeson to be entangled in the tragic power struggle between the two superpowers of the twentieth century—the United States and the USSR—with his own life and career hanging in the balance. Inspired by historical events, Robeson also resonates with today’s ongoing fights for social justice.

OF:NW May 4-14, 2022

Photos by Mark Lyons

Music by Nathaniel Stookey
Libretto by Eisa Davis and Nathaniel Stookey
Based on the play by Eisa Davis

In 1955, in the redwood country north of San Francisco, a restless Black girl lives in a predominantly white town whose residents pepper their speech with the historical dialect of Boontling. Found floating in a basket on the river as an infant, Bulrusher is an orphan with a gift for clairvoyance that makes her feel like a stranger even amongst the strange: the taciturn schoolteacher who adopted her, the madam who runs her brothel with a fierce discipline, the logger with a zest for horses and women, and the guitar-slinging boy who is after Bulrusher's heart. Just when she thought her world might close in on her, she discovers an entirely new sense of self when a black girl from Alabama comes to town.

Bulrusher has been commissioned by West Edge Opera.

OF:NW November 29-December 6, 2021

Watch the presentation of excerpts.

Music by Kevin Puts
Libretto by Greg Pierce

The Hours, by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Greg Pierce, is based on the book by Michael Cunningham and the Paramount Pictures Film. It tells the story of three women whose lives have a literary connection: Clarissa is a New York City book editor in the early 2000s, whose best friend, Richard, a celebrated poet dying of AIDS, nicknames her Mrs. Dalloway, after the heroine of the Virginia Woolf novel. Woolf also appears as a central character—in suburban London in 1923—as she struggles to write Mrs. Dalloway while battling suicidal thoughts. A third character, Laura, is a housewife in 1949 Los Angeles wrestling with depression and seeking escape by reading Mrs. Dalloway. Their three stories are elegantly interwoven, as parallels and echoes in their lives shed light on the eternal search for meaning, fulfillment, and connection, particularly for women constrained by societal roles and their own complicated desires and expectations.

The Hours has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and The Philadelphia Orchestra, and will receive its world premiere during the Met’s 2022-23 season.

OF:NW March 6-15, 2021

Livestreamed presentation of excerpts
Monday, March 15 2021, at 5:00 p.m.
Click here to watch.

Music by Tobias Picker
Libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman

Awakenings, with music by Tobias Picker and a libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollmen, is based on the book of the same name by Dr. Oliver Sacks. The book tells the true story of Dr. Sacks’s astounding treatment of survivors of the great sleeping-sickness pandemic, encephalitis lethargica, which swept across the globe in the early twentieth century. Although millions died, many thousands lived on, left immobile like living statues and housed in large institutions. After nearly half a century, most of those who had survived remained locked away in hospital wards, forgotten and “asleep.” In the late 1960s, by experimenting with the drug L-DOPA used to treat Parkinson’s Disease, Dr. Sacks began to “awaken” these patients—men and women who had never stopped thinking or feeling—temporarily bringing them back to an active and engaged life.

Awakenings has been commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and will receive its world premiere at the company in June 2020.

OF:NW November 1-11, 2019

Public presentation (Sold Out):
Monday, November 11, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
Music Hall’s Wilks Studio, Cincinnati, OH

Music by Scott Davenport Richards
Libretto by David Cote

Blind Injustice explores the true stories of six people who were tried, convicted, imprisoned, then ultimately freed by the Ohio Innocence Project. A collaboration with the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) and the Young Professionals Choral Collective (YPCC), the work is based on casework by the OIP and the book Blind Injustice by University of Cincinnati law professor and OIP Director Mark Godsey, as well as interviews with the six exonerees. With music by Scott Davenport Richards, the opera will bring to life the grace, perseverance, and forgiveness of these men and women.

Photos by Philip Groshong from the July 2019 Cincinnati Opera production of Blind Injustice

Music by Gregory Spears
Libretto by Tracy K. Smith

Castor and Patience, with music by composer Gregory Spears (Fellow Travelers) and a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith, tells the story of African American cousins who find themselves at odds over the fate of a historic parcel of land they have inherited in the American South.

According to Smith, “It’s 2008, and Patience is fighting to stave off overzealous developers. Castor has a ballooning mortgage to contend with and is hoping to sell his share of the land. But if they’re going to get anywhere as a family, they must first learn to see past their different allegiances and trust one another. Castor and Patience is the story of not just a single family or even a particular geography, but of America’s warring tensions between reckoning with the hard facts of history and racing blindly forward toward the dream of progress.”

Castor and Patience has been commissioned by Cincinnati Opera and will receive its world premiere as part of the company’s 2022 Summer Festival.

OF:NW August 26-September 4, 2019

Public presentation:
Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
Music Hall’s Wilks Studio, Cincinnati, OH

Music by Laura Kaminsky
Libretto by Kimberly Reed

Postville: Hometown to the World is the latest piece by composer Laura Kaminsky and filmmaker Kimberly Reed, known for their partnership on the critically acclaimed opera As One, concerning the journey of a transgender person, which was featured in Cincinnati Opera’s 2018 Summer Festival. Their new work takes place in Postville, Iowa, which bills itself as the “Hometown to the World,” but which is known for a massive 2008 raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency at a Kosher meat-packing plant, in which over a tenth of the town’s population was arrested and deported.

This new work was created for the “Opera for All Voices” program, which is led by Santa Fe Opera and San Francisco Opera, and includes the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Sarasota Opera, and Seattle Opera. It is Kaminsky and Reed’s second work to participate in Opera Fusion: New Works, following their opera Some Light Emerges, which had a residency in September 2016.

OF:NW December 12-16, 2018

Public presentation (SOLD OUT)
Sunday, December 16, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
Corbett Opera Center, Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH
Admission is free, but tickets are required. This event has reached capacity, and tickets are no longer available. Click here to watch the live stream on Sunday, December 16 at 7:30 PM.

Music by Matthew Aucoin
Libretto by Sarah Ruhl

COMMISSIONED BY
The Met/LCT New Works Program and LA Opera

The work will be based on the play by Sarah Ruhl and tells the Orpheus story from the perspective of Eurydice, using contemporary language to present the young lovers as quirky and conflicted. Eurydice was commissioned in 2015 by the Met Opera/Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program.

OF:NW November 8 – 17, 2018

Public presentation
Saturday, November 17, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
The Wilks Studio, Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH

Additional presentations: November 18 and 19, 2018
Lincoln Center and Century Association, New York City

Music by Rufus Wainwright
Libretto by Daniel MacIvor

WORLD PREMIERE
Canadian Opera Company (2018) 

Set at the end of the classical era, Hadrian tells the story of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and his profound grief at the death of his lover Antinous. Hadrian’s relationship with Antinous, a young man in his entourage, was frowned upon by many in his inner circle. In fact, during this period of the most critical changes in religious history – the rise of monotheism in the face of the end of the old pagan deities – Hadrian’s love for Antinous was not only discouraged, it was dangerous. When Antinous drowns in the Nile at the height of their love affair, many questions arise about the nature of his death. 

Hadrian offers answers to those questions and in turn raises more questions about self-sacrifice, jealousy, treachery and love itself. The opera is currently in development and is scheduled to open the COC’s 2018/2019 mainstage season. 

OF:NW March 13-21, 2018

Music by Ricky Ian Gordon
Libretto by Lynn Nottage

COMMISSIONED BY
The Met/LCT New Works Program 

Adapted by Lynn Nottage from her prize-winning 2003 play of the same name, Intimate Apparel tells the story of Esther, a 35-year-old seamstress in 1905 New York City.

Esther sews lingerie for a living, interacting with a wealthy Fifth Avenue wife, a Tenderloin prostitute, and a Jewish fabric merchant on the Lower East Side, with whom she shares a closeness that cannot be pursued further because of his religion.

Esther embarks on a letter-writing relationship with a Panama Canal laborer, leading to marriage and ultimately heartbreak, but she maintains her strength of character and determination to make a better life for herself.

Intimate Apparel is commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program. The Met/LCT New Works Program develops new opera and music theater works through a creative developmental process, leading to an exploratory workshop production.

This preliminary workshop of Intimate Apparel, focusing on musical development, was facilitated by Opera Fusion: New Works as a precursor to the Met/Lincoln Center Theater workshop, which will follow in 2017.

OF:NW November 5-14, 2016

Music by Laura Kaminsky
Libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed

WORLD PREMIERE
Houston Grand Opera (2017) 

In the mid-1960s, the renowned art collector Dominique de Menil commissioned the noted American artist Mark Rothko to create a series of paintings and the ideal gallery in which to house them. Mrs. de Menil also envisioned that the resultant Rothko Chapel, which opened in 1971, would serve as a spiritual space for “those of all faiths, or no faith.” 

Some Light Emerges is set mostly within the Rothko Chapel and chronicles the direct and tangential intersections of five people across four decades who visit the chapel, as well as the struggles and triumphs of Dominique de Menil in realizing her dream.

OF:NW September 18-22, 2016

Music by Jack Perla
Libretto by Rajiv Joseph

WORLD PREMIERE
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2016)

Adapted from a 2005 novel by Salman Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown tells the story of Shalimar and his beloved Boonyi, who have grown up together in a pastoral Kashmiri village, making people laugh as acrobats and dancers in a traditional folk theater. Though one is Muslim and one is Hindu, they fall in love—and despite all odds, their village embraces their marriage. But when a new American ambassador sees Boonyi dance, dark clouds gather. The promise of a new life tears their love apart and sends Shalimar down a path of revenge.

OF:NW October 7-17, 2015

Music and libretto by Daniel Catán

COMMISSIONED BY
University of Texas Butler School of Music

Infuriated at being told to write one final column after being laid off from her newspaper job, Ann Mitchell prints a letter from a fictional unemployed “John Doe” threatening suicide on Christmas Eve in protest of society’s ills. When the letter causes a sensation among readers, and the paper’s competition suspects a fraud and starts to investigate, editor Henry Connell is persuaded to rehire Mitchell, who schemes to boost the newspaper’s sales by exploiting the fictional John Doe.

From a number of derelicts who show up at the paper claiming to have written the original letter, Mitchell and Connell hire John Willoughby, a former baseball player and tramp in need of money to repair his injured arm, to play the role of John Doe. Mitchell starts to pen a series of articles in Doe’s name, elaborating on the original letter’s ideas of society’s disregard for people in need.

The newspaper’s publisher, D.B. Norton, proposes to take John Doe national through the radio, with Mitchell writing the speeches. Meanwhile, Willoughby is offered a bribe from a rival newspaper to admit the whole thing was a publicity stunt, but ultimately turns it down and delivers the speech Mitchell has written for him instead. The speeches inspire citizens across the country to form John Doe Clubs whose simple slogan is “Be a better neighbor.” However, Norton secretly plans to channel Doe’s popularity into support for his own national political ambitions.

Willoughby, who has come to believe in the John Doe philosophy himself, denounces Norton and tries to expose the plot at the rally, but Norton speaks first, exposing Doe as a fake. Despondent at letting his now-angry followers down, Willoughby plans to commit suicide by jumping from the roof of City Hall on Christmas Eve, as in the original John Doe letter. Mitchell, who has fallen in love with Willoughby, desperately tries to talk him out of jumping, and citizens tell him of their plan to restart their John Doe Club. Convinced not to kill himself, Willoughby leaves, carrying a fainted Mitchell in his arms.

Composer Daniel Catán began work on Meet John Doe prior to his untimely death in 2011, but the opera remained unfinished. In 2015, Opera Fusion: New Works welcomed the creative team tasked with completing the opera: Eduardo Diazmuñoz, Michaela Eremiášová, Jairo Duarte-López, and Andrea Puente Catán.

OF:NW January 21-31, 2015

Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Terrence McNally

WORLD PREMIERE
Dallas Opera (2015)
San Diego Opera (2016)

Great Scott is set in an American city that boasts a respected but struggling opera company and a thriving football team. Arden Scott, the hometown girl who has become an international opera star, has returned to her roots to help save the company. She has chosen not a standard classic or a new work, but a long-lost bel canto opera she recently discovered: Vittorio Bazzetti’s Rosa Dolorosa, Figlia di Pompeii, which has been gathering dust ever since its composition in 1835.

By chance, the opera company is set to give the world premiere the same night the local football team, the Grizzlies, will play in their first Super Bowl across town—an event that will be telecast to 100 million viewers. The owner of the team is married to the opera company’s founder, Winnie Flato. Success on the field is no less important than Arden’s and Maestro Bazzetti’s in the opera house. No wonder Arden finds herself in a state of personal crisis over the career and life she has chosen as every conceivable disaster seems to await the company.

With a large cast and chorus, two mad scenes, an erupting volcano, and a difficult unknown score, will mere human resources be equal to the opera’s inhuman demands? And a defeat at the Super Bowl could be end of Winnie’s opera company as well.

OF:NW November 17-24, 2014

Music by Gregory Spears
Libretto by Greg Pierce

WORLD PREMIERE
Cincinnati Opera (2016)

Based on the 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon, Fellow Travelers takes place in 1950s Washington, D.C., and follows Timothy Laughlin, a recent college graduate and devout Catholic eager to join the crusade against Communism.

A chance encounter with a handsome State Department official, Hawkins Fuller, leads to Tim’s first job in D.C. and—after Fuller’s advances—his first love affair. As McCarthy makes a desperate bid for power and investigations focus on “sexual subversives,” Tim struggles to reconcile his political convictions, his love for God, and his love for Fuller—an entanglement that will end in a stunning act of betrayal.

OF:NW November 18-26, 2013

Music by Ricky Ian Gordon
Libretto by William M. Hoffman

WORLD PREMIERE
Cincinnati Opera (2015)

Morning Star tells the story of a Jewish mother who immigrates to New York City with her four children in the hopes of achieving the American dream. The action follows the immigrants through the early years of the 20th century as they adapt to their new country, enduring both the First World War and the Great Depression. Through their struggles, the work addresses such issues as political ideology, race, religion, and identity with humor and humanity.

OF:NW November 26 - December 5, 2012

Music by Terence Blanchard
Libretto by Michael Cristofer

WORLD PREMIERE
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2013)
SF Jazz Center, San Francisco (2016)
Washington National Opera (2017)

Champion, an opera with a unique fusion of jazz and operatic styles, is based on the true story of boxer Emile Griffith. A world champion prizefighter, Griffith experienced both triumph and tragedy; in winning the Welterweight Championship in 1962, his punches put opponent Benny “The Kid” Paret in a coma from which he never recovered. Just before the match, Paret had mocked Griffith using homosexual slurs.

Years later, Griffith’s homosexuality was revealed when he was nearly killed by a gang outside a gay bar. Champion presents a modern tragic hero who is ultimately consumed by rage, regret, and the terrible consequences of his actions. 

OF:NW October 19-27, 2012

Music by Douglas J. Cuomo
Libretto by John Patrick Shanley

WORLD PREMIERE
Minnesota Opera (2013)

Set in 1964 at a Catholic elementary school in the Bronx, the action pits a nun against a popular priest over allegations of sexual abuse. The charismatic and progressive Father Flynn is trying to loosen the stranglehold of St. Nicholas Church School’s strict customs, which are fiercely guarded by its iron-fisted principal, Sister Aloysius Beauvier.

When the young, innocent Sister James shares with the principal her suspicion that Father Flynn may be abusing the school’s only black student, Sister Aloysius embarks on a personal crusade to find the truth and ruin the priest. With no proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius engages in a battle of wills with Father Flynn in this riveting new work, which poses questions to ponder long after the curtain goes down.

The opera Doubt is based on the play Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, which won both the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play. 

In 2008, Shanley wrote and directed the motion picture adaptation of Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Adapted Screenplay nod for Shanley.

OF:NW November 2-13, 2011