Laura Kaminsky to Compose “Opera for All Voices”
Composition Professor Laura Kaminsky has been awarded a commission from the new “Opera for All Voices: Stories of our Time” initiative, which is committed to telling wide-ranging stories that resonate with all audiences, regardless of age or previous exposure to opera.
Opera for All Voices was born out of the need for works with outstanding artistic quality that can still reach broad-ranging audiences by both accessibility of subject material and budgets. The project also addresses the serious need to bring new audiences to opera by commissioning important works that speak to all voices, designed with modern attention spans in mind, and the need to break down pre-conceived notions that opera is antiquated or elitist.
The seven companies currently in the consortium will work together to commission new works that are flexible in scope and scale, with the potential to be performed in smaller venues and off the main stage while striving for rich storytelling and artistic integrity.
The first new work will receive its premiere in 2019 at Santa Fe Opera, composed by Augusta Read Thom as with a libretto by Jason Kim. The second commission will be composed by Kaminsky with a libretto by Kimberly Reed and is slated to premiere at San Francisco Opera in 2020.
A composer of opera, orchestra, chamber, vocal, and choral music, Kaminsky’s scores often address social and political issues such as sustainability, war, and human rights. She recently made waves with her opera As One, which premiered at BAM in 2014 and has since been performed across the country. As One depicts the experiences of its sole transgender protagonist, Hannah, as she endeavors to resolve the discord between her self and the outside world.