Five Alumni Conqu'ring Contemporary Opera
Across the U.S., & in Belgrade & Hungary, UM Alumni Composers David T. Little, Lembit Beecher, D.J. Sparr, Aleksandra Vrebalov, & Steven Eddins are breaking ground in Contemporary Opera.
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David T. Little (MM, ’02)
Already respected for his work as executive director of the MATA Festival and artistic director for the chamber ensemble Newspeak, David T. Little’s ascent in the world of American Contemporary Music continued in October 2012 with the much-heralded premiere of his first full-length opera, Dog Days. Directed by acclaimed director Robert Woodruff and based on the eponymous short story by Judy Budnitz, Dog Days received a thorough and thoughtful review from The New York Times’ Steve Smith who heralded Mr. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek for delivering a, “taut, nuanced work that clawed beneath the surface of every situation.”
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Lembit Beecher (DMA, ’09)
Described as possessing, “[a]n instinct and affection for storytelling” by Molly Sheridan of NewMusicBox.com, Lembit Beecher is currently in the second year of a three year position as Composer-In-Residence with the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Propelling Mr. Beecher to this prestigious opportunity was the work he produced as a graduate fellow with the University of Michigan’s Institute of Humanities, his multimedia theatrical oratorio And Then I Remember. Recipient of the first prize at Houston-based Opera Vista’s 2010 competition, And Then I Remember represents one of many award-winning efforts on the part of Mr. Beecher.
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D.J. Sparr (DMA, ’03)
Currently the Young American Composer-in-Residence with the California Symphony, D.J. Sparr also tours extensively as an electric guitar soloist. The Washington National Opera has kicked off their first season of commissions of the American Opera Initiative--a program designed to stiumlate, enrich, and ensure the future of contemporary American Opera. Mr. Sparr and librettist Davis Miller are currently collaborating on The Tao of Muhammad Ali (A Ghost Story), which will be an hour-long storytelling of a reporter's transformative meeting with boxing legend Ali. The Tao of Muhammad Ali (A Ghost Story) will premiere at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater in June 2013.
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Aleksandra Vrebalov (DMA ’03)
Native Serbian Aleksandra Vrebalov has received commissions from the world-famous Kronos Quartet, Merkin Concert Hall and, more recently, the Serbian National Theater, which commissioned Ms. Vrebalov’s opera Mileva to celebrate its 150th Anniversary in 2011. A collaboration with Serbian playwright Vida Ognjenovic, the opera focuses on the experiences and psychology of Serbian physicist and mathematician Mileva Maric, who was Albert Einstein’s first wife. After it’s premiere, Mileva received a repeat at the Belgrade Music Festival and, in October 2012, Mileva was performed again in Hungary as part of the Armel Opera Festival.
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Steven Eddins (DMA ’01)
Both an outspoken writer-on-music and an accomplished writer-of-music, Stephen Eddins is one of eight composers selected to participate in the Forth Worth Opera’s first annual New Works Program. Next May, Mr. Eddins’ will bring his third opera Why I Live In The P.O., a semi-staged version of which was performed in Ann Arbor’s Hill Auditorium in 2009, to Bass Hall in downtown Fort Worth. The one-act chamber opera will be performed on one of two evening showcases by artists from the 2013 Fort Worth Opera Festival under the direction of the Forth Worth Opera Company’s Stephen Osgood.
- Post by Garrett Schumann (DMA 2015)