Led by dramaturg Cori Ellison and ALT’s Founder Lawrence Edelson

With composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek; composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Rob Handel; composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann; and Paul Moravek and Mark Campbell; and composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang

Opera is the ultimate collaborative art — but what makes a successful collaboration? We will explore how some of the most successful composer-librettist teams, past and present, have ensured that their collective vision of the story they wanted to tell through opera could be effectively realized. The roles of both dramaturgs and directors will also be explored, and how these artists’ different skills can best be leveraged at the ideal point in each opera’s development.

Led by Entertainment Lawyer James Kendrick

With ALT’s Founder, Lawrence Edelson, and publishing guests TBA

Composers and librettists need to know their rights, and they need to understand the law. In this two-day seminar, opera writers will receive an understandable overview of intellectual property law and the issues surrounding the creation and of new operas including collaboration and commission agreements; working with publishers, agents and managers; issues related to adaptation and life rights; and how to obtain the rights to adapt a work that is not in the public domain.

Led by ALT’s Associate Artistic Director, Kelly Kuo

With composers Daniel Bernard Roumain, Justine F. Chen, Anthony Davis, Huang Ruo, and Errollyn Wallen; and librettists Richard Wesley, David Henry Hwang, Kanika Ambrose, and Andrea Davis Pinkney

BIPOC artists have written for operas for centuries, but until recently, most of their contributions to the repertoire were consciously erased from the opera house. We take a look back at the history of BIPOC writers in opera, and are then joined by a group of remarkable BIPOC composers and librettists changing the face of opera today to discuss why they are drawn to opera; navigating racism in the field; and the complementary value of allyship and self-empowerment in advancing their work.

Led by ALT Alumni, composers Kamala Sankaram and Jorge Sosa

With audio AR producer Richard Rodkin, sound designer Jon Robertson, director Elena Araoz, designer Jeanette Oi Suk Yew, conductor Maria Sensi Sellner, and librettist Rob Handel

Technology has helped to shape opera throughout its history. In this workshop, we will explore some of the most exciting and accessible tools that are available for creating new works. We will compare the use of technology for producing established works versus considerations for writing new operas specifically for the virtual landscape; what specific tools are available; how partnerships can enhance your work, and how to broker them; and activating storytelling through user experience.

Led by dramaturg Cori Ellison

With composers Jeremy Howard BeckAnthony Davis and Laura Kaminsky; librettists Thulani Davis, Richard Wesley, Stephanie Fleischmann, KimberlyReed,and Mark Campbell; and memoirist Brian Castner

From Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Francesco Busenello’s The Coronation of Poppea to Anthony Davis and Richard Wesley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five, opera has always been an extraordinary mirror in which to reflect and challenge social, historical, and political events. Composers and librettists alike will gain valuable perspective on approaches to dramatizing history, along with practical tools for developing works based on real-life events past and present.

Led by ALT Faculty Mentor, composer / librettist Mark Adamo

ALT principal faculty mentor Mark Adamo developed a unique outlining method while writing his first, critically-acclaimed opera, Little Women, now exclusively taught as a foundational part of the Composer Librettist Development Program. Learn how to use this practical process, which centers the collaborative relationship between composer and librettist through the creation of parallel outlines by each writer before a note of the music or a word of the libretto has been written.