American Opera Projects

American Opera Projects The country’s most exciting source for new opera and music theater. Located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York.

An AOP family reunion flows through Montana this month!On September 18, Opera Montana presents the world premiere of A R...
09/11/2026

An AOP family reunion flows through Montana this month!

On September 18, Opera Montana presents the world premiere of A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT (music Zach Redler, libretto Matt Foss & Kelley Rourke), based on Norman Maclean’s celebrated novella.

Redler is an alum of AOP’s Composers & the Voice, where he was a Composer Fellow in the 2011–13 cycle. The production also features tenor Michael Kuhn, a member of the C&V Resident Ensemble during the same cycle. Rourke is the librettist of EAT THE DOCUMENT (music John Glover), developed by AOP and premiered at the 2025 PROTOTYPE Festival.

On the podium is Opera Montana Artistic Director Michael Sakir, who has conducted three productions of AS ONE (music Laura Kaminsky, libretto Mark Campbell & Kimberly Reed): AOP’s co-production at Utah State University in Logan in 2015, Des Moines Metro Opera in 2017, and Opera Memphis in 2019.

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT is Opera Montana’s first commissioned opera, created in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Maclean’s novella.

Congratulations to Zach, Kelley, Michael K, Michael S, Matt, and the entire company on the world premiere!

Photo 1: Zach Redler during a 2011 C&V workshop session. Credit: Gerry Goodstein
Photo 2: EAT THE DOCUMENT: Director Kristin Marting, Kelley Rourke, John Glover.

09/10/2026

to SINCERELY (composer KrisK, librettist Jacob Cordas) from the 2026 AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab: THE TRANSIT OPERAS, 12 short operas dedicated to the New York Transit Museum in celebration of their 50th anniversary. This piece was inspired by the IRT R-15 subway car 6239.

Featuring singers MaKayla McDonald, Ilene Pabon & Lyle Smith Mitchell. Music director/pianist Chérie Roe, stage director Martavius Parrish, costume design Christine DiJospeh and Alex Driessen, set design Woori Kim, lighting Sooji Kim. Stage manager Chris Moeggenberg, assistant stage manager Ellie Miller.

The Future Miss Subways must decide between the proposals of The Minotaur and The Siren.

Video excerpt from May 17 performance at the NYU Paulson Center African Grove Theatre.

09/07/2026

As part of AOP’s programming, this Labor Day we look back at an American opera that finds its drama in the everyday lives of working people.

In 2008, AOP premiered THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING (composer Lee Hoiby, librettist Mark Shulgasser), an opera based on the play by Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Lanford Wilson.

Set in small-town America, RILL moves through glimpses of ordinary life—families, farmers, schoolchildren, neighbors and their daily conversations—building a portrait of a community from seemingly commonplace moments.

The premiere featured soprano Abigail Fischer, a member of AOP’s Composers & the Voice Resident Ensemble from 2006–08, whose performance was singled out by The New York Times.

Happy Labor Day from AOP!

Video: Malinda Haslett, Andrew Garland, Abigail Fischer, Justin Petersen, Nicole Mitchell and Will Ferguson. THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING, AOP Premiere at Purchase College, 2008. Music Direction: Benton Hess. Stage Direction: Ned Canty.

09/06/2026

AOP singer Abigail Fischer appears on composer Robert Sirota’s new album, Contrapassos, offering a wonderful occasion to revisit her long history with AOP.

Fischer was a member of AOP’s Composers & the Voice Resident Ensemble from 2006–08 and appeared in AOP’s 2008 production of Lee Hoiby and Mark Shulgasser’s THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING. Reviewing the performance, the New York Times wrote that Fischer “stood out for her attractive tone, abundant feeling, and clear diction.”

Congratulations to Abby and Robert Sirota, and their latest recording!

Learn more: https://www.jensenartists.com/news-complete/robert-sirota-contrapassos

Video: Abigail Fischer and Justin Petersen in THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING, AOP Premiere at Purchase College, 2008.

09/03/2026

to EMPIRE HEIGHTS (composer Zane Bridwell, librettist Simon Lansberg-Rodriguez) from the 2026 AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab: THE TRANSIT OPERAS, 12 short operas dedicated to the New York Transit Museum in celebration of their 50th anniversary. This piece was inspired by subway car IRT R-12 Number 5760.

Excerpt featuring singers Jordan Rutter-Covatto, Jardena Gertler-Jaffe and Reykwaan Adorno. Music director/pianist Julius Abrahams, stage director Jerrica White, costume design by Eryn Perkins, set design by Matt Conte, lighting Jordan McAuliffe. Stage manager Chris Daly, assistant stage manager Ellie Miller.

Three candidates interview for a position at the newly-reopened Empire Heights Theater in post-war New York City.

Video excerpt from May 16 performance at NYU Paulson Center African Grove Theater.

08/28/2026

to IT NEVER STOPS (composer Gaurav Mishra, librettist Caleb Conaway) from the 2026 AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab: THE TRANSIT OPERAS, 12 short operas dedicated to the New York Transit Museum in celebration of their 50th anniversary. This piece was inspired by subway car R33S car number 9310.

Excerpt featuring singers Jordan Rutter-Covatto, Kira Dills-DeSurra and Reykwaan Adorno. Music director/pianist Julius Abrahams, stage director Britt Berke, costume design Matt Oxley, set design by Yufan Hu and Yun Yen, lighting Jordan McAuliffe. Stage manager Chris Daly, assistant stage manager Ellie Miller.

Arthur, a recently-jobless mortuary man, has to confront his uncertain future with the aid of two living subway placard ads: HCA (a Hemorrhoids Cream advertisement) and THE INSTITUTE (A Business Institute advertisement). As the train barrels forward, Arthur faces a choice: reinvent his mortuary service with THE INSTITUTE, or help HCA escape to Coney Island. Darkly comedic and surreal, It Never Stops explores death, destination, and the inescapable grip of corporate messaging, setting the audience on a journey they can't get off.

Video excerpt from May 16 performance at the NYU Paulson Center African Grove Theater.

Thanks to Meaghan McGoldrick O'Neil of Brooklyn Paper featuring AOP's on-going programming! Article: https://www.brook...
08/27/2026

Thanks to Meaghan McGoldrick O'Neil of Brooklyn Paper featuring AOP's on-going programming! Article: https://www.brooklynpaper.com/battle-of-brooklyn-250-anniversary-events/

AOP continues America250 with a look back at THE POST OFFICE premiere (May '26) and the main character, the ghost of Benjamin Franklin.

On the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, we remember the events of August 1776 when British forces invaded Brooklyn, the first battle of the Revolutionary War. Franklin was one of the brave citizens calling for Democracy that sparked the British invasion.

250 years later, Franklin returns to Brooklyn in AOP’s THE POST OFFICE (music by Laura Kaminsky, words by Elaine Sexton) to look in on his post office. Franklin was the first Postmaster General, and he enters only to join in arguments about free speech, racial equality, gender diversity, and Democracy itself.

Learn more about THE POST OFFICE through our website: https://www.aopopera.org/the-post-office

Photo 1: David Adam Moore as Benjamin Franklin at BAM Fisher, Brooklyn. Credit: Steven Pisano.

Photo 2: Michael Kelly as Benjamin Franklin, alongside Sarah Moulton Faux, Brian Jeffers, Markel Reed, and Blythe Gaissert at Spruce Peak Arts, Stowe, Vermont. Credit: Sarah Peet.

Stage director Kevin Newbury, conductor David Martin Bloom, scenic design Charles Renfro, associate designer Alex Knezo, associate projection design Zack Lobel, lighting design Phillip Franck, costume design Amanda Roberge.

08/21/2026

AOP continues its programming TOMORROW, Saturday, August 22, at 10AM with a FREE tribute concert for the 118th Annual Memorial to the Prison Ship Martyrs at Fort Greene Park, co-presented by the Society of Old Brooklynites & AOP, featuring contralto Nicole Mitchell.

The program includes a musical connection to Walt Whitman and Fort Greene dating back to July 4, 1846, when Whitman’s words were printed in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle with the inscription “TO BE SUNG ON FORT GREENE.” The text was set to the melody we now know as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” nearly 85 years before it became the official U.S. national anthem in 1931. The melody itself originated with the 18th-century English song “To Anacreon in Heaven.”

📍 Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, Fort Greene Park (top of the hill, DeKalb Ave & Washington Park)
🗓 Saturday, August 22
🕙 10 AM
🎟 FREE

To help support AOP's mission of providing free and low-cost public presentations in the Fort Greene and NYC-community at large, please donate today via the link below!
https://www.aopopera.org/support

Video of Nicole Mitchell singing the Whitman-set "Ode" to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the August 6 Walt Whitman Walking Tour.

08/20/2026

to LOVE, GEORGE (composer Stefanos Kemanetzis, librettist Chenyue Hu) from the 2026 AOP-NYU/Tisch Opera Lab: THE TRANSIT OPERAS, 12 short operas dedicated to the New York Transit Museum in celebration of their 50th anniversary. This piece was inspired by MTA NYC R44 5240 car.

Excerpt featuring singers Jordan Rutter-Covatto, Kira Dills-DeSurra and Reykwaan Adorno. Music director/pianist Julius Abrahams, stage director Britt Berke, costume design Matt Oxley, set design by Yufan Hu and Yun Yen, lighting Jordan McAuliffe. Stage manager Chris Daly, assistant stage manager Ellie Miller.

A 15-minute opera exploring the lives of early 20th-century Greek immigrants building the New York subway, through the perspectives of their letters sent back home to Greece.

Video excerpt from May 16 performance at the NYU Paulson Center African Grove Theater.

08/14/2026

to AOP's March 2026 workshop of BARCELONA, MAP OF SHADOWS at Mabou Mines.

Music by Mikael Karlsson, libretto & stage direction by Mallory Catlett, conductor Rebekah Heller.

SHE: Patricia Schuman (mezzo)
YOUNG MAN: Damian Norfleet (baritone)

AOP received an award in support of Rebekah from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors.

Rebekah's album RIGHTEOUS RAGE is out now, featuring compositions by Julius Eastman, Steve Reich, Jessie Cox, Fay Victor and Brittany J. Green.

https://cantaloupemusic.com/albums/righteous-rage

Make a donation today and support AOP!

Address

138 S Oxford Street Ste 1C
Brooklyn, NY
11217

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when American Opera Projects posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Establishment

Send a message to American Opera Projects:

Shortcuts

Share

Category