"Great Operas Don't Just Happen."

Interview

"We emphasize a very detailed outlining process at ALT, wherein the librettist and the composer create beat-by-beat outlines - for both the libretto and the score - before a word of the text or a note of the music is written. For a short piece, like those in the upcoming Living Libretto event, this might take one month. For a longer, full-length work, the planning process could take six months or more, especially if extensive research is required."

Talking with singers: Tamara Gura

Interview

"Trust your uniqueness and what you have to say. Make it your goal to find out what that is and how you can share it with the world. Take your time so that you enjoy each step of the process."

Talking with singers: Lucas Meachem

Interview

"I didn't wait around for an interview that wasn't going to happen - I took it into my own hands through my blog. It's a lot of work and I'm proud to say I've posted consistently for over a year now. Phew! What motivates and inspires me most are real conversations I have with others in the opera world. That's what makes it so authentic."

Talking with singers: John Holiday

Interview

"I can remember dragging myself out of my third floor dorm room, in Mary Hay Hall (sidenote: Above my room, there was a plaque that read 'Future Leaders of Tomorrow'), and being late to those required acting classes for music majors. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're reading, take advantage of those classes. You'll be thankful you did."

Cycles of My Being: "This is their story."

Interview

"I hope that people will show a great appreciation for the work of this young composer, the work of the lyricist, and the work of the other musicians on stage, but also our commitment to telling this story. I hope it gives a new perspective, and really allows people to see into the psyche and mindset of a young educated black man in America."

Grime sees debut at Wigmore Hall

Interview

"It is wonderful to me that Helen Grime, such a phenomenal, fearless composer and also a mother, should take these poems from the book and give them a new embodiment in her song cycle," says Benson.

Don't miss Tap:Ex Forbidden: "We are tough and resilient."

Interview

"As a female composer with a Persian background, I have the privilege to be able to see the performance of my opera. It brings tears to my eyes, knowing many Iranian music masters who have written great operas that are forbidden to be performed on stage. Having this privilege, it is my responsibility to create."

Heggie's Holocaust operas see Canadian premiere

Interview

"What we wanted to explore in these pieces is, what it is to survive when you're not necessarily doing heroic things, you're just surviving," Heggie says of his Holocaust-themed one-acts. "What Krystyna had to do in order to survive was not heroic, it was horrifying."

Talking with singers: Andrea Carè

Interview

"I sincerely believe there’s not only one reason. I myself never decided or planned to sing professionally; I never thought I would manage my developing in a way that I could make this form of art my job."

Talking with conductors: George Jackson

Interview

"Walking into the rehearsal room with a new orchestra is pure psychology: I find that my antennae are up, reading the room's complex dynamics in the first few minutes. It's part of the job that I love most, because it's essentially a multiplied version of one-to-one interaction."