On the Edge

On the Edge is a new producing partnership of Opera and Music-Theatre companies comprised of American Opera Projects, Center for Contemporary Opera, Encompass New Opera Theatre and Music-Theatre Group. The partnership was formed to develop an American repertory of opera and music-theatre works, to disseminate these works nationally and internationally, and to build a diverse audience base encompassing all ages and ethnic groups.

ON THE EDGE presentations:

May 17 and 19, 2005: On the Edge presented highlights from the following four new works in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space.

Encompass New Opera Theatre’s Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On

American Opera Project’s Lost Childhood

Center for Contemporary Opera’s The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz

Music-Theatre Group’s The Loving Family

Discussion with composers and librettists preceded each excerpt, and was moderated by Janet Coleman of WBAI radio.

History of On the Edge:

In 2004, New York City Opera, under the guidance of General and Artistic Director Paul Kellogg and composer-in-residence Mark Adamo, invited four additional producing organizations to present works in conjunction with NYCO’s VOX: Showcasing American Composers series, then entering its sixth year. VOX 2004 became known as VOX 2004 &Friendsas co-presenters American Opera Projects, the Center for Contemporary Opera, Encompass New Opera Theatre, and Music-Theatre Group contributed performances to the three-day mini-festival at the Peter Norton Symphony Space. This consortium of music companies proved successful and the four co-presenters would later join together to form a new opera/music theatre collective.

www.conopera.org
www.encompassopera.org
www.musictheatregroup.org