American Lyric Theater (ALT) is not an “opera company” by any traditional definition. ALT is dedicated to mentoring gifted composers and librettists from diverse backgrounds with an interest in writing for the opera stage; commissioning and developing vibrant new works; and partnering with other companies internationally to help build a body of new operas for new audiences.
Commissioning new operas is admittedly a risky endeavor, and increasingly, opera companies are becoming more risk averse. ALT doesn’t just workshop new operas – a common practice in different forms for many companies. We literally shift the developmental risk, including the expense, away from other opera companies. ALT offers the only full time professional mentorship program for emerging opera composers and librettists in the United States. As artists hone their skills at ALT, we commission new works and extensively develop each opera in our artistic pipeline. In addition to paying for the cost of artist mentorship (our programs are completely tuition free for Resident Artists), ALT pays commission fees, acquires intellectual property rights when necessary, holds developmental workshops, creates spec recordings, and distributes information about the operas we are developing to appropriate potential producing partners. By taking on these responsibilities during the development stage, ALT serves a unique and invaluable role in the opera field, absorbing an enormous portion of the risk inherent in the process.
Why absorb the risk? Because at ALT, we are able to focus all of our resources on new works development. At ALT, well-managed risk is an investment in the future. ALT’s mentorship staff includes some of America’s most successful operatic writers. This mentorship, combined with the amount of time dedicated to each project, allows us to provide the most comprehensive development environment possible. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that by the time an opera developed by ALT reaches the point where it is being considered for production by other companies, that work has been artistically vetted much more thoroughly than is often possible in other environments, where developing new works is subservient to the more pressing needs of producing an annual season.
AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER IS A PROUD MEMBER OF OPERA AMERICA