CU Boulder New Opera Workshop (CU NOW)

 
Welcome to the CU Boulder New Opera Workshop (CU NOW) at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!
 
Conceived by Leigh Holman, director of the Eklund Opera Program, CU NOW is the first program of its kind in a U.S. academic institution: An extended workshop period where graduate voice and composition students have direct interaction with living composers to develop and perform their music. Guest composers have included Mark Adamo, Mark Campbell, Tom Cipullo, Herschel Garfein, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, Gene Scheer and Kamala Sankaram. In 2024, Gene Scheer returns—this time as visiting composer with librettist Bill Van Horn to workshop “Polly Peachum.” This year’s workshop dates are May 29-June 16, 2024.
 
Nestled at the foot of the Boulder Flatirons, composers love the oasis of CU NOW where their creativity blossoms with invaluable resources at their fingertips: Skilled and eager singers as well as premium music staff, directors and production personnel. Says Jake Heggie, one of the most well-known living opera composers: 

The longest workshop I’ve ever had was five or six days. So to have nearly three weeks to work on it and change it every day is extraordinary. —Jake Heggie

The student impact is even greater. Says Grammy Award-winning bass Wei Wu (MMus ’13):  

I’m so grateful that CU NOW was introduced to me by the Eklund Opera Program and Leigh Holman more than a decade ago. Back then, I worked from scratch with composers and librettists—now, I sing commissioned works at major houses. CU NOW opened a new door for me. —Wei Wu

CU NOW

CU NOW is often a student’s first professional opportunity to implement their academically prepared skills in a familiar setting with Eklund Opera support staff. They grow new skills interfacing and developing with industry professionals, including those visiting from prominent opera companies and established artists. With every major opera house performing new opera, CU NOW offers our students an advantage in the current Golden Age of American Opera. CU NOW is funded exclusively by the generosity of donors.

Upcoming voice + opera + musical theatre events

CU NOW 2024

Overview

Gene Scheer returns to CU NOW as guest composer—alongside collaborating librettist Bill Van Horn—with “Polly Peachum,” a rollicking romantic musical comedy set in the early 1700s that depicts the intertwining worlds of government intrigue, London criminal life and the world of theatre. The story follows John Gay as he endeavors to bring his masterpiece “The Beggar’s Opera” to the stage. In the process, he crosses paths with Jonathan Wild—the foremost criminal mastermind in London—and his beguiling mistress Polly. As this fiery triangle develops and opening night approaches, Gay and his colleagues risk their lives and reputation for love, the bonds of friendship and to bring an enduring work of art to life.

Performances (all in the Music Theatre):

  • Friday, June 14, 7:30 p.m.: Presentation of “Polly Peachum”
  • Saturday, June 15, 7:30 p.m.: Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) Scenes
  • Sunday, June 16, 2 p.m.: Presentation of “Polly Peachum” 

, guest composer

Gene Scheer’s work is noted for its scope and versatility. With the composer Jake Heggie, he has collaborated on many projects, including the critically acclaimed 2010 Dallas Opera world premiere, “Moby-Dick,” starring Ben Heppner as Captain Ahab; “Three Decembers” (Houston Grand Opera), which starred Frederica von Stade; and the lyric drama “To Hell and Back” (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra), which featured Patti LuPone. Other works by Scheer and Heggie include “Camille Claudel: Into the fire,” a song cycle premiered by Joyce di Donato and the Alexander String Quartet. 

Scheer worked as librettist with Tobias Picker on “An American Tragedy,” which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 and on Therese Raquin which was produced by the Dallas Opera in 2001. 

Other collaborations include the lyrics for Wynton Marsalis’s “It Never Goes Away,” featured in Marsalis’s work “Congo Square.”  With the composer Steven Stucky, Scheer wrote the oratorio August 4, 1964, for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The work was nominated for a Grammy in 2012 for best classical composition. 

In 2015, Scheer collaborated with Joby Talbot on the opera “Everest,” based on the doomed 1996 Everest expedition. With Jennifer Higdon, Scheer wrote an operatic adaptation of “Cold Mountain,” which premiered in the summer of 2015 at the Santa Fe Opera. This work won the International Opera award, presented in London, for the best World premiere in 2015. Recently, along with Higdon, Scheer was nominated for a Grammy for his work on “Cold Mountain” for best classical composition. 

In December 2016, Scheer and Heggie premiered an operatic adaptation of “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the Houston Grand Opera. 

Also a composer in his own right,  Scheer has written a number of songs for singers such as RenĂ©e Fleming, Sylvia McNair, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Larmore, Denyce Graves and Nathan Gunn. 

The distinguished documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns, prominently featured Scheer’s song “American Anthem” (as sung by Norah Jones) in his Emmy Award-winning World War II documentary for PBS entitled “The War.”

Bill Van Horn, guest librettist

Polly Peachum 

John Gay  Tommy Bocchi 
John Wilde Sam Wetzel
Polly Peachum Kailyn Martino
Swift (poet) and Clark Miguel Ortega Bañales
Pope (poet) and Harry (Wilde’s assistant) Reese Phillips
Arbuthnot (poet) and Officer Ben Axlund
Walpole
The first Prime Minister of England		 Marcus Schaller
Pennington and Reverend Moore
(pants role/ham actor)		 Sarah Cain
The Duchess and Mrs. Ditchit Melissa Lubecke
Princess Caroline and Livinia Rebecca Seifert

Since 2014, the Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) inspires College of Music composition students to explore the opera medium through professional mentorship of visiting CU NOW composers and librettists.

Participating composers’ short opera scenes develop under the guidance of CU NOW industry titans and are then rehearsed, staged, costumed and performed within the summer festival of CU NOW ... and beyond. CFI scenes from the 2023 CU NOW workshop were featured in concert by CU Boulder SoundWorks.

2024 CFI artists presenting scenes by Alan Mackwell, Holly McMahon and Joshua Maynard:

Soprano

Kristina Butler

Mezzo

Alleigh Watson 

Tenor

Simeon Wallace 

Baritone

Max Vann

Recent workshops

2023

Returning to CU NOW was award-winning composer Tom Cipullo whose critically-acclaimed opera, “Glory Denied,” is one of the most frequently performed 21st-century operas. CU NOW workshopped Cipullo’s new two-act opera, “The Calling.” With the inherent drama of near-constant revelations of corruption and hypocrisy, televangelists are an easy target. But the opera is less concerned with scandal than those aspects of contemporary American life that push some people of faith toward these controversial performers.  

 

CU NOW presented guest composer Kamala Sankaram’s “Joan of the City”—a site-specific multimedia opera using augmented reality/mixed reality to tell the story of a modern-day Joan of Arc. The libretto for the piece came from collaborations with community organizations that serve homeless populations.

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“The Spare Room With the Shag Rug”—Ilan Blanck
“RuPaul’s Drag Race Allstars” (Season 2: Phi Phi vs. Alyssa)—Jessie LausĂ© (music), libretto adapted from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Season 2: Episodes 4 and 5)
“Fragments”—James Morris (music), Nnamdi Nwankwo (libretto)
 

With their third CU NOW Workshop, Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer teamed with 2021 MacArthur Fellow Jawole Willa Jo Zollar for their civil war era opera “Intelligence” based on a true story. Zollar’s Urban Bush Women were in residence collaborating with students, guest artists and the creative team. Commissioning company Houston Grand Opera will premiere â€œIntelligence” in October 2023. 


“Vindicta” (Act 1, Scene 3)—Chase Church
“As You Like It” (Act 1, Scene 1)—Kevin Gunia (adapted from William Shakespeare)
“Perspective” (An opera in one act)—Ben Morris (music), Nnamdi Nwankwo (libretto)

CU NOW hosted award-winning composer Tom Cipullo and his comic opera “Hobson’s Choice” based on the play written by Harold Brighouse and premiered in New York and London in 1916. In its exploration of gender roles, class and social mobility, “Hobson’s Choice” was far ahead of its time. 

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“Dear Love”—Margaret R. Friesen
“Incense and Embers”—Brian Lambert  
“Look What We’ve Done”—Dianna Link

Returning to CU NOW was powerhouse team Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer with their opera “If I Were You,” commissioned and premiered by the Merola Opera Program in 2019. In this modern telling of the “Faust” story, the devil makes a bargain with a dispirited young writer.

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“..”—John Boggs
“”—Margaret R. Friesen
“”—Elena Specht

CU NOW presented Mark Adamo’s “The Gospel of Mary Magdalene” in a revision of his 2011 San Francisco Opera commission. “It utterly transformed the piece, and I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity and the experience,” said Adamo. 

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“”—John Clay Allen
“”—Kevin Michael Olson
“”—Elena Specht
“Dame Not Lady”—Selena (now Silen) Wellington 

Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer brought “It’s a Wonderful Life” to CU NOW based on the iconic 1946 Frank Capra movie (by permission of Paramount Licensing, Inc.) and on Philip Van Doren Stern’s â€œThe Greatest Gift.” Commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera and Indiana University, it premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2016. The College of Music’s Eklund Opera Program presented a new production in 2019.


“The Pansophony Codex”—Aidan Patrick Cook
“”—Kevin Olson  
“Element 88”—Trevor Villwock
“”—Selena (now Silen) Wellington

CU NOW presented “A Song for Susan Smith” by Zach Redler and Mark Campbell. This chamber opera explores the psychological and sociological factors that drove this woman to commit filicide and how the act affected her community.

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“Dreams of Stonewall"—Daniel Cox
“Opera Scene”—Ryan Dakota Farris
“President Chair”—Brian D. Kelly
“Behrouz, An Untold Story”—Egemen Kesikli
“Murder Scene”—K.D. Mueller

CU NOW presented Alberto Caruso and Colm TĂłibin’s opera “The Master” based on Toibin’s novel about Henry James and how, in the wake of the disastrous failure of his play “Guy Domville,” he gradually retired from public life and devoted himself to writing. It premiered at Wexford Festival Opera in 2022. 

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“The Frisco Devil”—Ryan T. Connell
“Who’s Afraid of Oscar Wilde”—Dan Cox
“A Doll’s House”—Raechel Sherwood
“Seven Against Thebes”—Trevor Villwock

CU NOW presented “A Wrinkle in Time” by Libby Larsen based on the novel by Madeleine L’Engle; directed by Leigh Holman with assistance from Libby Larsen. 

 

CU NOW presented “Ludlow” by Lori Laitman with libretto by David Mason; directed by Beth Greenberg. The epic story is based on the 1913-14 coal mining wars of southern Colorado known as the “Ludlow Massacre.”

 

CU NOW presented two critically acclaimed composers-in-residence: Kirke Mechem’s â€œPride and Prejudice”; and Herschel Garfein’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.”

 

The inaugural season of CU NOW premiered Daniel Kellog’s “Autumn Orchard” and excerpts from “Elmer Gantry” by Robert Aldridge with libretto by Herschel Garfein. 

 

News + ovations

In the news
  •  (June 16, 2023, CPR News)
  •  (June 14, 2023, Sharps & Flatirons)
  • (August 2019, Opera News)

“New operas are performed in every major opera house. I’m so grateful that CU NOW was introduced to me by the Eklund Opera Program and Leigh Holman more than a decade ago. Back then, I worked from scratch with composers and librettists—now, I sing commissioned works at major houses. CU NOW opened a new door for me.” 
—Wei Wu (MMus ’13), Grammy Award-winning bass; CU NOW singer 2011-2014 

“I became a modern American opera enthusiast after creating the role of Krystyna Zywulska in the collegiate premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s ‘Out of Darkness: Two Remain’ at LSU in 2019. While I was researching and applying to graduate programs, a family friend sent me an article in Opera News about an exciting new opera program (CU NOW) where both Heggie and Scheer workshopped their new works with graduate students at the University of Colorado Boulder. Before reading that article, CU Boulder wasn’t even on my radar. However, the prospect of getting new works on their feet with two of my heroes was an absolute dream I couldn’t pass up. I decided to pursue my graduate studies at CU Boulder in the hopes of being able to participate in CU NOW. My educational dreams were realized after my first year at CU Boulder when I was cast in the CU NOW CFI Scenes program where I created three separate roles in fully-staged and costumed scenes written by composition students under the close mentorship of both Scheer and Tom Cipullo. Having worked directly with such industry greats was the opportunity of a lifetime—an opportunity that inspired me to commission works to raise awareness about homelessness in a project I'm currently working on with two of the composition students from CFI last summer. Truly, my experience with CU NOW has been a pinnacle of my music education as a whole and I hope that it serves as a template for other institutions to follow. The future of our art form depends on it.”
—Savannah Scott, student singer 2022

“Leigh Holman’s CU NOW is unique, not only for its format but also for its impact. The workshop combines some of the nation’s most important composers–including Jake Heggie, Mark Adamo, Lori Laitman and Kamala Sankaram–with the time and resources they need to craft and revise the next generation of operatic masterworks. As the guiding force behind every aspect of the workshop, Holman has made a major contribution to the field of contemporary American vocal music. In its scope and duration, as well as in the quality of its preparation and presentation, there is not another program like CU NOW in the nation. Those that love opera and wish to see it thrive in the 21st-century thank the stars for CU NOW and for Leigh Holman. Of course, when you work with young people, that’s extra special. The enthusiasm and energy that I get from them is a really great joy.”
—Tom Cipullo, composer of “Glory Denied” (2007) based on the true story of America’s longest-held prisoner of war. With over 20 productions, the piece is one of the most frequently performed operas of the 21st-century. 

“All sorts of possibilities emerge, but they can really only emerge when you actually see it on its feet.”
—Gene Scheer, composer, librettist and songwriter with multiple Grammy Award nominations. Frequent collaborator of Jake Heggie and other prominent creators including Wynton Marsalis and Jennifer Higdon. .  

“The longest workshop I’ve ever had was five or six days. So to have nearly three weeks to work on it and change it every day is extraordinary. Working in the Boulder setting is like getting Broadway previews without the critics.”
—Jake Heggie
In addition to several full-length operas and numerous one-acts, Heggie has composed hundreds of art songs, as well as concerti, chamber music, choral and orchestral works. New York’s Metropolitan Opera has announced bold new productions of “Dead Man Walking” and “Moby-Dick” for upcoming seasons. “Dead Man Walking”—“the most celebrated American opera of the 21st century” (Chicago Tribune)—has received 75 international productions since its premiere in October 2000. 
 
“Leigh Holman and CU NOW—which, I’ve long said, is the best acronym in the business—offered me their sterling singers, their flexible space, their faultless professionalism and their unstinting artistic support when I revised and directed a new version of ‘The Gospel of Mary Magdalene’ in Boulder in 2016. It utterly transformed the piece, and I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity and the experience. Here’s affirming many more years of fruitful operatic work by CU NOW.”
—Mark Adamo, who first attracted national attention with his uniquely celebrated dĂ©but opera, “Little Women,” after the Louisa May Alcott novel. Introduced by the Houston Grand Opera in 1998 and revived there in 2000, “Little Women” is one of the most frequently performed American operas of the last 15 years, with more than 135 national and international engagements. 
 
“CU NOW offers an experience unequalled anywhere in this country: The opportunity for singers, composers, librettists and directors to come together under fully professional conditions to nurture and develop new works for the operatic stage. Leigh Holman knows precisely how that difficult work gets done. The time I spent there, as both a creator and a teacher, was inspiring! No conjecture, no theory, all practice.” 
—Herschel Garfein, two-time Grammy Award winner Herschel Garfein is active as a composer, librettist and stage director. In 2012-13, he earned an NYU Teaching Excellence Award. 
 
“Eklund Opera and CU NOW are extremely important. Many music schools and conservatories don’t train musicians in opera [...] Programs like CU NOW train our future composers and librettists how to tell stories passionately and adroitly through music and text. By creating new operas about the American experience, CU NOW helps ensure that opera remains relevant—and that it will have a future. [...] We can never really know how an aria sounds until it is sung by that soprano that we’ve written it for.”
—Mark Campbell whose Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning operas of are among the most successful in the contemporary canon. A prolific writer and librettist/lyricist, Campbell has created more than 40 opera librettos, as well as lyrics for musicals, and the text for song cycles and oratorios. 
 
“It’s so valuable to have a safe space with really talented actors, directors, music directors who can handle changes within a very short amount of time to get a piece to the next level. [...] These kind of development opportunities don’t really exist too much in the world anymore.” 
—Zach Redler, composer and faculty at NYU Tisch’s Graduate Music Theater Writing Program. 
 
“I can’t stress enough how important programs like this are for opera. For young composers today, the biggest challenge we have is that we cannot get enough performances.” 
—Egemen Kesikli, 2015 CFI student composer now on faculty at CU Boulder and CSU. 
 
“CU NOW helped me learn that I love opera and have a passion for bringing together all the theatrical pieces of storytelling into one art form. Because of CU NOW, I was able to build a repertoire of opera music which helped me tremendously in opening new doors, including at the Kennedy Center through the American Opera Initiative.” 
—Silen Wellington

“CU NOW is one of the great examples of how contemporary American opera has established its place in the operatic ecosystem. The opportunity for music students to work alongside living composers and librettists, and for those creators to hear their work performed live, is an invaluable combination. Houston Grand Opera has had two workshops with CU NOW, both of which were essential to the creative process for each opera. The work that the Eklund Opera Program has done to build a program of artistic excellence and exploration already has and will continue to enhance the world of opera and the musical lives of so many.” 
—Jeremy Johnson, Associate Director of New Works, Houston Grand Opera

Personnel

Leigh Holman, Founder + Artistic Director 
Bud Coleman, CFI Director
Nicholas Carthy, Music Director

Previous: 
Jeremy Reger, Music Director (2015-2022) 
Robert Spillman, Music Director (2010-2015) 
Patrick Mason, CFI Founder, Managing Director (2014-2016)
Daniel Kellogg, CFI Managing Director (2017-2019)