Excerpt from "The Interaction Effect" - an opera-in-progress
Music by Pamela Stein Lynde;
Libretto by Laura Barati

Mikaela - Tookah Sapper (soprano)
Dean - Blythe Gaissert (mezzo-soprano)
Professor - Adrian Rosas (bass-baritone)
Music Director - Mila Henry
Stage Director - Mary Birnbaum
C&V Artistic Director - Steven Osgood

SYNOPSIS: In "The Interaction Effect", Mikaela, a senior statistics major at a liberal arts college, just wants to forget the night her friend Adam raped her at a college party, and her school administration's painful mishandling of her assault. But when Mike learns that Adam has assaulted another student - a sophomore too scared to report the assault - she is forced to confront her community and administration's desire to ignore campus sexual assault. In the opening twenty minutes, Mikaela begins her day by forcing herself to attend a statistics seminar she shares with Adam. When she arrives at the seminar, Mikaela is triggered by Adam and tries to participate in the lecture while also reliving the experience of reporting her rape to a Dean.

Excerpt from "Better Than It Sounds" - an opera-in-progress
Music and Libretto by Matt Browne

Becky - Tookah Sapper
Tom - Adrian Rosas
Samuel Clemens - Timothy McCown Reynolds
Music Director - Kelly Horsted
Stage Director - Matt Gray
C&V Artistic Director - Steven Osgood

SYNOPSIS: This is the opening scene of a one-act comic opera that takes a skeptical look at the medium of opera as a whole through the cynical lens of Mark Twain. Over the course of the opera, William and Emma, the creators of a Tom Sawyer opera-within-the-opera, attempt to convince Twain of its merits. After this opening scene we see how high the stakes really are for William and Emma, and learn more about how opera can express things no other medium can. Twain still needs some convincing, though.

Excerpt from "Dark Exhalation" - an opera-in-progress
Music and Libretto by Amber Vistein

Sun - Tookah Sapper
The Woman - Blythe Gaissert
Man - Mario Diaz-Moresco
Music Director - Mila Henry
Stage Director - Matt Gray
C&V Artistic Director - Steven Osgood

SYNOPSIS: "Dark Exhalation" focuses on the experiences of a character referred to only as The Woman. The events of "Dark Exhalation" take place a few weeks after The Woman's wife, Helen, has died unexpectedly in a car accident. A week before her death The Woman and Helen had an enormous fight that resulted in Helen leaving; they did not speak in the time between her departure and death. She daydreams that Helen's spirit has fused with the sun in much the same way that the heroes and loved ones of ancient Greeks became constellations.

Excerpt from "Spring" - an opera-in-progress
Music by Scott Ordway; Libretto by Meryem Belkaid

Harmattan - Jenniefer Goode Cooper
Zephyr - Blythe Gaissert
Sirocco - Blake Friedman
Ghibli - Adrian Rosas
Music Director - Kelly Horsted
Stage Director - Matt Gray
C&V Artistic Director - Steven Osgood

SYNOPSIS: A cast of four singers forms a quartet of omniscient narrators, dramatized as the four winds of the ancient Mediterranean world. They embody the pristine and temperate North African landscape and observe humans with sympathy and care, but without the capacity to intervene directly. They speak about the city and the people of Tunis in English and in the third person. At times though, one or more of the winds shifts perspectives and speaks as one of the citizens. In these moments, they speak in either French or Arabic and act in the first person. The music reflects their heightened emotional state.

Excerpt from "State Of The Jews" - an opera-in-progress
Music by Alex Weiser; Libretto by Ben Kaplan

Julie - Jennifer Goode Cooper
Pope - Blake Friedman
Herzl - Mario Diaz-Moresco
Music Director - Kelly Horsted
Stage Director - Mary Birnbaum
C&V Artistic Director - Steven Osgood

SYNOPSIS: "State of the Jews" is a historical drama about Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), the charismatic and controversial Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist whose writings ignited a mass political movement. In response to rising anti-semitism, Herzl pursues the establishment of a Jewish state, but these poolitical choices come at a great personal cost, wrecking havoc on the Herzl home. The opera interweaves between the political turmoil of turn of the centruy Europe - the rise of nationalilst movements, the threat of mass violence, and the struggle for political autonomy - with the story of Theodor's relationship with his wife Julie, and the toll that his political work takes on their marriage and lives. In her stark, contrasting response to the same historical circumstances, Julie exposes the complex and in many ways still unresolved challenges of that political moment.

Excerpt from "Salt" - an opera-in-progress
Music by Frances Pollock; Libretto by Emily Roller and Frances Pollock

Sarah - Tookah Sapper
Rachel - Jennifer Goode Cooper
Thomas - Mario Diaz-Moresco
Music Director - Kelly Horsted
Stage Director - Mary Birnbaum
C&V Artistic Director - Steven Osgood

SYNOPSIS: Salt is an adaptation of the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra. Set in the present day, the story explores the escalating tension between urban and rural communities and the consequences of the fundamentalism of all sides. The story is told with the help of a chorus of “Angels,” who serve many different types of Gods. This excerpt occurs halfway through the show and then jumps to the final aria. An Angel Chorus opens this segment, as tensions between the communities escalates into a riot. An Angel leads a “call to worship,” emphasizing the necessity to pick a side. As the destruction gets closer to his home, Lot frantically packs essentially belongings as he plans his family’s escape from the city. Lot’s Wife, furious at her husband’s cowardice, confronts him and chides him for running away. In a manic state, Lot turns on his wife, assaulting her verbally and frightening her. Their fight is interrupted by an explosion. The quickly run out of the house. A second angel chorus pontificates on the nature of division. Lot and his family run toward the outskirts of town. As they cross the city limits, Lot’s Wife turns back and witnesses the destruction of the city. Lot and his daughters continue on. Three weeks have passed, and the City is in the process of being repaired. Lot’s Wife has exhausted each of her family’s voicemail boxes. In a rare moment of stillness, Lot’s Wife rehashes the night of the destruction and considers her own culpability.

"And then there was him"
Performed by Jennifer Goode Cooper
Music by Scott Ordway
Text by Meryem Balkaïd
Music Director / Piano: Kelly Horsted

"Feels Like Old Times"
Performed by Kate Maroney
Music by Matt Browne
Text by Kimberly Davies
Music Director / Piano: Kelly Horsted

"Beat! Beat! Drums!"
Performed by Mario Diaz Moresco
Music by Matt Browne
Text by Walt Whitman
Music Director / Piano: Mila Henry

"Self-portait"
Performed by Blake Friedman
Music by Alex Weiser
Text by Edward Hirsch
Music Director / Piano: Mila Henry

"Herzl's Plea to Pope Pius X"
Performed by Mario Diaz Moresco
Music by Alex Weiser
Text by Ben Kaplan
Music Director / Piano: Kelly Horsted

"Thursday"
Performed by Tookah Sapper
Music by Alex Weiser
Text by William Carlos Williams
Music Director / Piano: Mila Henry

"Refugee Instructional"
Performed by: Blake Friedman
Music by Frances Pollock
Text by Sokunthary Svay
Music Director / Piano: Horsted