NEW YORK, NY – March 18, 2021 – Today,
American Lyric Theater (ALT) announced significant changes to its flagship
Composer Librettist Development Program
(CLDP), the only full-time, multi-year professional mentorship
initiative for opera composers, librettists and dramaturgs in the
country. The application period for the 2021-22 season of the CLDP is
now open, with applications being accepted online through April 30
th.
Three composers and three librettists will be accepted to the new
cycle of the CLDP, which begins in September 2021. There is no fee to
apply for the program. Accepted artists will be announced in June.
Through the CLDP, ALT offers a unique combination of training and direct
financial support as artists develop their unique voices as writers for
the opera stage. To increase access to the program for artists from
across the country, ALT will be offering the CLDP this season through a
combination of virtual classes and workshops, and four in-person
residency periods in New York City for which ALT will provide travel and
housing. In addition, to further address issues of racial equity and
access, ALT will provide a $20,000 stipend to each artist accepted into
the program to assist with their expenses during the 2021-22 season; and
all artists who complete the first year of the CLDP core-curriculum
will be commissioned by ALT to write an opera under the auspices of the
program, with increased commission fees paid to each artist as their
works are developed in partnerships between ALT and other opera
companies across the country. Application information and additional
details about the CLDP may be found at
www.altnyc.org/composer-librettist-development-program
The CLDP embraces musical storytellers from diverse backgrounds and
features a unique curriculum of classroom training and hands-on
workshops with some of the country’s leading working artists. Under the
direction of ALT’s Founder and stage director
Lawrence Edelson and recently appointed Associate Artistic Director and conductor
Kelly Kuo, principal faculty mentors for the new cycle of the CLDP, will include Edelson and Kuo, as well as composer/librettist
Mark Adamo, librettist
Mark Campbell, composer
Anthony Davis, dramaturg
Cori Ellison, and a host of internationally acclaimed guest artists.
As a part of the company’s ongoing commitment to building a new body of
operatic repertoire that reflects the racial diversity of contemporary
American society, ALT is particularly invested in fostering talented
artists whose perspective has been historically underrepresented in
opera. To codify and continue that commitment, American Lyric Theater
this year launched the
Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative (OWDARI),
a strategic framework adopted by ALT to address racial justice in its
contributions to the opera field and increase participation by artists
of diverse racial and artistic backgrounds in the CLDP.
“It is essential that we provide a platform for BIPOC artists to create
new works and help them tell stories that are meaningful to them,” says
composer
Jorge Sosa, a CLDP Alum, OWDARI Advisory
Council Member, and 2021 CLDP Guest Lecturer. “Relevance in the arts
will be directly linked to diversity and equity in years to come. It is
an exciting time for the art form as it expands its color palette. The
CLDP provides not only training but a meeting place for artists that
share the same goals. It has provided me with great opportunities,
contacts, and access to collaborators who have in many cases become
lifelong artistic partners.”
Addressing the changes to the CLDP this season, ALT’s Founder, Artistic and General Director
Lawrence Edelson
explains that “the OWDARI was the catalyst for us creating our free
online Opera Writers Symposium this winter, and the response to that
program has been overwhelming. Over 400 composers and librettists from
across the country have participated in these seminars to date, making
it clear to us that there are not only writers from diverse backgrounds
living coast to coast who are interested in opera as a way to tell their
stories through music, but also a real hunger for what we offer at ALT.
We decided to adapt the CLDP into a hybrid program for the upcoming
season – combining online classes and workshops with in-person residency
periods in New York City – to open up this opportunity for artists
regardless of where they live.”
“The increased stipend this season is another concrete action we have
taken to increase access to the program,” added Associate Artistic
Director
Kelly Kuo. “The CLDP is a significant time
commitment, and meaningful financial support makes it possible for
artists to dedicate more time to their writing and their art.”
For those considering applying to the CLDP or interested in learning
more about writing for the opera stage, registration is still available
for ALT’s free,
CLDP Opera Writers Symposium open now through April 24. Upcoming Symposium seminars include
Opera, Technology and Innovation, led by composers Kamala Sankaram and Jorge Sosa;
From Erased to Self-Empowered: Celebrating BIPOC Opera Composers and Librettists led by Kelly Kuo;
How to Have a Happy Marriage: Collaboration Best Practices, led by Lawrence Edelson and Cori Ellison; and
Writing Opera and the Law,
led by entertainment lawyer James Kendrick. Upcoming speakers during
the symposium include CLDP guest faculty including composers
Missy Mazzoli, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Huang Ruo and
Errollyn Wallen; and librettists
Stephanie Fleischmann,
David Henry Hwang, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and
Royce Vavrek.
The Composer Librettist Development Program at American Lyric Theater is
made possible with generous leadership support from The Andrew W.
Mellon Foundation.
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