COMPANIONSHIP | Music and Libretto by Rachel J. Peters

Recovering from a nervous breakdown, aspiring baker Leslie Sinclair finally reaches the end of her obsessive quest to bake the perfect baguette when the 207,345th one suddenly comes to life. Companionship mirrors our contemporary world, where what we consume becomes all-consuming. Adapted from the short story by Arthur Phillips.

CAST: 7 adult principals and children’s chorus

INSTRUMENTATION: 1.0.1 (doubling t.sax).1/0.0.1.0/pft- perc (1)/1.1.1.1.1 (doubling elec.bass)

DURATION: 1 hour 20 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • International Premiere, University of Music and Arts Vienna, 2024

  • World Premiere Production with Orchestra, Virginia Arts Festival, 2022

  • World Premiere Piano/Vocal Production, Fort Worth Opera, 2019

  • Staged excerpts, Manhattan School of Music/American Opera Projects, 2014

EVERYTHING COMES TO A HEAD | Music by Rachel J. Peters, Libretto by Margi Preus and Jean Sramek

Where is Basil, Rosemary’s boyfriend? He made like a tree and leaved. Rosemary is worried their love has gone domant (was it the lack of spice in their relationship?) but she’s staying planted in her tiny apartment. Her roommates, on the other hand, think Rosemary doesn’t need to cultivate that kind of baggage. Everything Comes to a Head gives us some sage advice: if the roots of love are deep enough, it doesn’t matter if you’re in mint condition.

CAST: soprano, two mezzo-sopranos, and baritone

INSTRUMENTATION: piano and violin

DURATION: 12 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • Live Premiere: Fargo-Moorhead Opera, 2023

  • Virtual World Premiere: Decameron Opera Coalition/Lyric Opera of the North, Fall 2020

LESSON PLAN | Based on Georg Philip Telemann’s Der Schulmeister; Additional Music, Libretto, and Singing Translation by Rachel J. Peters

Lesson Plan brings an internationally celebrated operatic contralto into the world of online teaching while her headlining stage engagements are put on hold. Thought to be teaching trained singers at a prestigious conservatory, she catches her assistant in a scheduling faux pas and instead takes the Zoom stage for a community college with the same acronym – a group with little singing experience or interest in what the great diva had in mind. Intercepted by an overwhelmed school administrator with a side hustle as an amateur choir director, the pair clash over teaching technique, singing and the true meaning of art.

CAST: Soprano and contralto

INSTRUMENTATION: Bassoon, piano/harpsichord, 2 violins, bass

DURATION: 45 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • Virtual World Premiere: On Site Opera, 2022

  • Live Version Premiere, Caramoor Festival, 2022

MEN I’M NOT MARRIED TO | Music by Lisa DeSpain, Libretto by Rachel J. Peters

Men I'm Not Married To is loosely adapted from Dorothy Parker’s eponymous text. In the summer of 1924, three young bridesmaids are at their mutual friend’s wedding reception, hiding from their respective assigned groomsmen: a prankster whose antics have run afoul; a sanctimonious judge obsessed with Prohibition contraband; and a self-proclaimed intellectual full of unsolicited advice. Thank goodness it’s the era of the New Woman, when dating has supplanted courtship and a woman’s worth will never again be tied to her marital prospects. Right? Publication by E.C. Schirmer coming soon.

CAST: 1 soprano, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 1 nonsinging male actor

INSTRUMENTATION: Jazz ensemble

DURATION: 15 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • Live Premiere, Brigham Young University, 2023

  • World Premiere Virtual Production, Cleveland Opera Theater/Baldwin Wallace Conservatory/On Site Opera, 2022

NO LADIES IN THE LADY’S BOOK | Music by Lisa DeSpain, Libretto by Rachel J. Peters

A short comic opera inspired by an article from Godey’s Lady’s Book declaring “This great work [The Transcontinental Railroad] was begun, carried on and completed by men only.” Godey is visited by an onslaught of unsung female inventors intent on setting the record straight.

CAST: Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, Baritone

INSTRUMENTATION: piano, clarinet, and violin

DURATION: 15 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • University of Nebraska-Omaha, 2022

  • University of Alabama, 2022

  • World Premiere: Utah Opera, 2019

STAGGERWING | Music by Lisa DeSpain, Libretto by Rachel J. Peters

1936 was the first year that all-female teams could compete in the grueling transcontinental Bendix Trophy Air Race. Aviation industry titans Olive Ann and Walter Beech tap crackerjack pilots Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes to win it in their revolutionary new plane. Staggerwing takes off in Brooklyn and follows Louise and Blanche as they navigate extreme physical risk, sabotage, personal tragedies, and a male-dominated field. The pilots persevere beyond the Los Angeles finish line to shape the future of women in aviation. Winner, 2020 Opera Kansas Zepick Modern Opera Competition. Publication by E.C. Schirmer coming soon.

CAST: 5 principals (3F, 2M) (currently being expanded in development)

INSTRUMENTATION: Clarinet, piano, drums, vibraphone, bass

DURATION: 1 hour 15 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • Upcoming: Southern Oregon University and one other production TBA, 2025

  • Upcoming: Premiere of Expanded Version, Vanderbilt University, 2024

  • Scenes in concert, Brigham Young University, 2023

  • World Premiere, Opera Kansas, 2021

STEVE | Music and Libretto by Rachel J. Peters

Ann attends her synagogue’s singles mixer. The only man there is the reincarnation of her dead mutt, Steve. Adapted from the play by Liz Bartucci.

CAST: Lyric soprano, Tenor

INSTRUMENTATION: 0.0.1.0/0.0.0.0/pft.perc (1)/1.0.1.1.0

DURATION: 10 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • New Opera West, 2019

  • Fort Worth Opera, 2019

  • World Premiere: Boston Opera Collaborative, 2018

WELCOME TO THE MADNESS | Music by Leanna Kirchoff, Libretto by Rachel J. Peters

Welcome to the Madness, a multidisciplinary site-specific opera, presents a robust history of artistic innovation at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. (This slogan is printed on its handbooks.) Actress/musician Charlotte Perry and dancer/ filmmaker Portia Mansfield met at Smith College and ventured west in 1913, transforming vacant acres into a vital hub of early modern dance and experimental theatre. An incubator for performing artists at the 20th century’s vanguard including Julie Harris, Merce Cunningham and John Cage, Agnes de Mille, Dustin Hoffman, and many more, Perry-Mansfield became the heart of an American cultural circulatory system. Much of the libretto is adapted from primary sources in the Perry-Mansfield archives.

CAST: 8 principals, all based on real people. For that reason, of these, Portia must be an excellent singer (soprano) and dancer. José (Latino, tenor) and Hariette (soprano) must be excellent dancers (minimal singing). America (mezzo) must be a Black woman. Ideally, Louis (baritone) plays the piano well. Please consult existing resources for casting inspiration. The Marjorie Margery is our chorus, a motley group of all genders, voice types, shapes, sizes, and colors. There is also at least one live horse and a nonsinging acrobat.

INSTRUMENTATION: flute (doubling alto and picc.), saxophone (soprano/alto/tenor/bari) piano, percussion, guitar, violin, cello

DURATION: 1 hour 30 minutes

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • World Premiere: Opera Steamboat in collaboration with Perry-Mansfield, 2024.

THE WILD BEAST OF THE BUNGALOW | Music by Rachel J. Peters, Libretto by Royce Vavrek 

This triptych of short chamber operas (Mermaid in the Jar, Prairie Dogs, and Fine and Dandy) takes place entirely within an eleven-year-old Girl’s bedroom as she overhears her parents’ volatile conversations. Over the course of a few days, a mermaid, a family of stuffed prairie dogs, and singing groups of chicken pox and shingles force her to confront what it means to care for others and be cared for herself.

CAST: 1 coloratura soprano plus eight additional principals playing multiple roles

INSTRUMENTATION: 1.0.1 (doubling BCl.).1.bar.sax/0.0.1.0/pft-perc (1)-harp-ukulele (doubling banjo)/1.0.0.1.1 or piano/vocal

PERFORMANCE HISTORY:

  • Mermaid in the Jar, Mannes Opera, 2023

  • World Premiere Production, complete opera, Oberlin Conservatory, 2020

  • Semi-staged concert reading, Center for Contemporary Opera, 2016

  • Mermaid in the Jar, Hartford Opera Theater, 2013

DURATION: 90 minutes

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OPERAS FOR CHILDREN