AS ONE: THE WORK CONTINUES…
presented by AOP and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of NYC

March 31, 2022 at 7pm ET

Moderated by Rahzé Cheatham
Featured panelists: Kimberly Reed, Lucas Bouk, and Heather Jones
Announcement of the True Voice Award by Washington National Opera’s Francesca Zambello

To commemorate International Transgender Day of Visibility, The American Opera Project— in partnership with New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center —presents “AS ONE: THE WORK CONTINUES...” The event, moderated by baritone, model, and creative director Rahzé Cheatham, features an in-person discussion with documentary filmmaker and As One librettist Kimberly Reed (Prodigal Sons), as well as As One performers, baritone Lucas Bouk and mezzo-soprano Heather Jones.

The panel will reflect on transgender and nonbinary visibility in the arts since As One premiered in 2014, and what the near future holds. The evening will also feature the announcement of the True Voice Award by Francesca Zambello, a new initiative created by Kimberly Reed, Laura Kaminsky, and Mark Campbell and overseen by Washington National Opera, to help create opportunities and support training for transgender opera singers. The event will culminate with the virtual premiere of “A Brighter Light,” a choral work written specifically for the event by the creators of As One, featuring over 35 cast members from As One productions around the world.

You can watch the free livestream (above) on March 31, 2022 at 7pm ET
or join us live and in person by clicking the button below.

Featuring

Librettist and filmmaker Kimberly Reed was commissioned by a consortium of opera companies led by Santa Fe Opera to write Hometown to the World, along with composer Laura Kaminsky. With Mark Campbell she co-wrote the libretti for Today It Rains (Opera Parallèle, 2019), Some Light Emerges (Houston Grand Opera, 2017), and As One (the American Opera Project, 2014), which is the most frequently produced new opera in North America, according to Opera America magazine. Her film projections have been called “worthy of Fellini or Bergman” (SF Classical Voice). Ms. Reed’ s song cycle Fierce Grace: Jeannette Rankin premiered at the U.S. Library of Congress in 2017. Her nonfiction writing was published in “The Moth,” a New York Times best-seller. Kim’s documentary film Prodigal Sons won 14 awards and was released in theaters and broadcast worldwide, and her Sundance award-winning 2018 documentary Dark Money was promptly named by Vogue magazine as one of the 66 Best Documentaries of All Time and shortlisted for the Academy Awards. She is a fellow of Yaddo and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Kimberly Reed

An internationally recognized director of opera and theater, Zambello's work has been seen at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, the Bolshoi, Covent Garden, the Munich Staatsoper, Paris Opera, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and English National Opera. She has staged plays and musicals on Broadway, at the Royal National Theatre, BAM, the Guthrie Theater, Vienna's Raimund Theater, the Bregenz Festival, Sydney Festival, Disneyland, Berlin's Theater des Westens and at the Kennedy Center. In May 2011, Zambello was appointed Artistic Advisor to Washington National Opera, and became Washington National Opera's Artistic Director January 1, 2013. She received the San Francisco Opera Medal for Artistic Excellence for her more than 30 years of artistic contributions to the company, including serving as Artistic Advisor from 2006-2011. In 2020, she received the Knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy for her contribution to the promotion of Italian culture and heritage.

She has been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contribution to French culture, and the Russian Federation's medal for Service to Culture. Her theatrical honors include three Olivier Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, two French Grand Prix des Critiques, Helpmann Award, Green Room Award, Palme d'Or in Germany and the Golden Mask in Russia. She began her career as the Artistic Director of the Skylight Opera Theatre and as an assistant director to the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. She has been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Juilliard and Yale. An American who grew up in Europe, she speaks French, Italian, German and Russian. She is a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

Her directing work at Glimmerglass includes: Iphig&eacut;nie en Tauride (1997); the world premiere production of Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori's A Blizzard On Marblehead Neck and Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun (2011); Verdi's Aida (2012); Wagner's The Flying Dutchman and David Lang's the little match girl passion (2013); Strauss' Ariadne in Naxos and Puccini's Madame Butterfly (2014); Bernstein's Candide (2015); Robert Ward's The Crucible (2016); Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (2017); Donizetti's The Siege of Calais (2017); Bernstein's West Side Story (2018); Rossini's The Barber of Seville (2018); Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat and Verdi's La traviata (2019).

Francesca Zambello

Baritone Rahzé Cheatham is praised as a “wonderfully sensitive” performer with “crystalline diction” and a strong foundation in music, theatre art, and dance applications. An emerging new music artist in both concert and operatic repertoire, notable roles include Hannah before (As One), Brennan (Mallory) Blues Soloist/Street Singer (MASS), Betto di Signa (Gianni Schicchi), L’Aubergiste (Chérubin), Bob (Old Maid and the Thief), and Bernardo (Westside Story). They have been featured in numerous projects, including opera scenes, performing as: Sam, Trouble in Tahiti; Dr. Pangloss, Candide; and Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro. For five years, Rahzé served as a Section Leader and soloist for the Sanctuary Choir of First and Franklin Presbyterian Church. Armed with the perspective of the intersec­tion of mis- and underrepresented communities, Rahzé seeks to break through an otherwise homogenous music scene. In addition to performing original works, Rahzé enjoys learning and performing works from 1900-forward, by little-known and unknown composers and poets, especially artists of color and LBGTQ-identified artists. While hosting a private voice studio of beginner, intermediate, and advanced students across multiple genres, they currently main­tain teaching positions at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the Baltimore School of Music. Rahzé holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Minor in Music Theory from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University where they studied with American baritone William Sharp.

Rahzé Cheatham

Possessing “an ear for the new and interesting” (The New York Times), Laura Kaminsky frequently addresses critical social and political issues in her work with music that is "full of fire as well as ice, contrasting dissonance and violence with tonal beauty and meditative reflection. It is strong stuff.” (American Record Guide). Her first opera, As One, (2014; co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed) is the most produced contemporary opera in North America, with 50+ productions to date in the U.S., Europe, Canada, South America and Australia. The As One team has since been commissioned twice—by Houston Grand Opera for Some Light Emerges (2017) and Opera Parallèle/American Opera Projects for Today It Rains (2019). Hometown to the World (libretto: Reed; Santa Fe Opera) premiered in 2021, Finding Wright in 2022 (libretto: Andrea Fellows Fineberg; Dayton Opera). She is co-librettist (with novelist Lisa Moore) and composer for February, commissioned by Newfoundland’s Opera on the Avalon for 2023. Awarded the 2016 Polish Gold Cross of Merit (Zloty Krzyż Zasługi RP) by the President of Poland for exemplary public service or humanitarian work, Kaminsky has also been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Opera America, Chamber Music America, USArtists International, CEC ArtsLink International Partnerships, Likhachev-Russkiy Mir Foundation Cultural Fellowship, and has received six ASCAP-Chamber Music America Awards for Adventuresome Programming, and a citation from the Office of the President of the Borough of Manhattan. Head of composition at Purchase College Conservatory of Music, she leads The American Opera Project's Artistic Advisory Council and sits on the boards of Opera America and the Hermitage Artist Retreat. Her music is recorded on the Affeto, Albany, Bridge, BSS, Cedille, CRI, Capstone, Mode, MSR, and Navona labels and is published by Bill Holab Music. 

 

Laura Kaminsky

In 2021 Lucas Bouk made his baritone debut with On Site Opera, and joined the ensemble of New Amsterdam Opera’s I Vespri Siciliani and Opera Theater of CT’s Barber of Seville. This April he sings Masetto in Camerata Bardi Vocal Academy’s Don Giovanni and in May creates new roles with the NYU/Tisch Opera Lab and AOP. Prior to the pandemic, Lucas used his “silky mezzo” (New York Times) to perform roles ranging from Lucretia to Carmen to Komponist to Cherubino. In the 2019 season he made his Lincoln Center debut with New York City Opera as Sarah in the World Premiere of Stonewall and performed Hannah-after in As One with Alamo City Opera and again at Alchemical Studios in NYC. During the COVID pandemic Lucas decided to begin his physical and vocal transition with testosterone and has been retraining with Katherine Ciesinski and Michael Chioldi. www.lucasbouk.com

Lucas Bouk

The Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning work of librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell is at the forefront of the contemporary opera scene in this country. Mark has written 40 opera librettos, lyrics for 7 musicals and text for 8 song cycles and 4 oratorios. His works include Silent Night, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, The Shining, Elizabeth Cree, As One, Sanctuary Road, Stonewall, The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare, Dinner At Eight, Rappahannock County, Later the Same Evening, Volpone, Approaching Ali, Bastianello/Lucrezia, and Songs from an Unmade Bed. Mark mentors future generations of opera composers and librettists at the American Opera Project and American Lyric Theater. In 2020, he also created and funded the first award for opera librettists in the history of the art form: the annual Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, administered by OPERA America. With his fellow As One collaborators, he also recently helped create the True Voice Award to help fund the training of transgender opera singers, administered by Washington National Opera. Premieres in 2022 include: A Sweet Silent in Cremona for Teatro Comunale Ponchielli, Unruly Sun for Orchestre Classique de Montréal, Edward Tulane for Minnesota Opera, A Year to the Day for The Violin Channel, A Thousand Acres for Des Moines Metro Opera, and A Nation of Others for the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. www.markcampbellwords.com

Mark Campbell

Heather Jones (they/them) is a mezzo and crossover artist performing classical and contemporary repertoire with “mischievous freshness and enthusiasm.” A 2021 finalist in the American Traditions Vocal Competition and winner of the Sherrill Milnes American Opera Award, Mx. Jones is gaining recognition for their interpretation of American works, notably for their portrayal of Hannah After in As One with Opera Maine. Heather also appeared in Opera Company of Middlebury’s film production of Candide (Paquette) which Opera News called “superb” and will soon join Opera Fayetteville for Matthew Aucoin’s dystopian opera Second Nature (Lydia).

The 2021-2022 season also includes: La traviata (Flora), solos in Bach’s St. John Passion and Verdi’s Requiem, and appearances at Spoleto Festival USA. In addition to performing, Heather has produced two short films featuring Britten’s Abraham and Isaac and Weill’s Lost in the Stars and wrote and starred in an all-queer adaptation of R&H’s Cinderella titled “Happily Never After.” heatherjonesmezzo.com 

Heather Jones

 
 

All donations towards this event will be split between The Center and AOP.
AOP will use these funds to support LGBTQ+ artists and the creation of LGBTQ+ operas.

 

Established in 1983 as a result of the AIDS crisis, New York City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center has grown and evolved over the last four decades, creating and delivering services that empower people to lead healthy, successful lives. We currently operate in-person and virtually, providing recovery and wellness programs, economic advancement initiatives, family and youth support, advocacy, arts and cultural events, and space for community organizing and connection.   

 

As One was commissioned and developed by The American Opera Project in part with funds from OPERA America's Opera Discovery Grants for Female Composers Program, supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature., and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works. As One premiered on September 4, 2014 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY.

Subsequent productions of As One have been made possible in part through the generous contributions of the following:  

PNC, Ambridge Regional Distribution and Manufacturing Center; the Carol Franc Buck Foundation; the Cooke Foundation; OPERA America Innovation Grant; the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation; Anchorage East Rotary; Atwood Foundation; Richard L. and Diane M. Block Foundation; ConocoPhillips; Municipality of Anchorage; Alaska State Council on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; Carr Foundation and Matson; Jane A. Gross; Bob Jeffrey; CTA Pathology, Curtis Thompson MD and Associates; Elk Cove Vineyards; Pride Foundation, Oregon; National Endowment for the Arts; The Oregon Cultural Trust; Boise City Department of Arts & History; Pride Foundation, Idaho; Susan May & Andrew Owczarek; James F. and Marian L. Miller Foundation; Silva Endowment; Haugland Family Foundation; Nils and Jewel Hult Endowment; Oregon Cultural Trust; Oregon Community Foundation; Oregon Humanities Center; Oregon Arts Commission; Zegar Family Fund; Bob Weinman; Dana White; Bella Domani; Mosher Foundation; Nicholas and Jessie Burlett; Towbes Fund for the Performing Arts; 26 Health; State of Florida; Orange County; City of Orlando; United Arts of Central Florida; Cardinal Health; The Columbus Foundation; Greater Columbus Arts Council; Nationwide; Ohio Arts Council; The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Voice Center; CULT Marketing; Sunday’s Child; Union Bank; Qualcomm; Sigrid Pate Butler; The City of San Diego; CA Arts Council; San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture; The County Board of Supervisors; Opera America; Sacramento State College of Arts and Letters; Sacramento State School of Music; Westaf Foundation; Amphion Foundation for New Music; The Trevor Project