Michelle premieres Omar Najmi and Christine Evans’ Mud Girl, singing the role of Poly 2.

Talented creative teams. Powerful stories. All-original opera. WNO’s acclaimed commissioning program for contemporary American opera enters another exciting season—showing how short opera can move and inspire us! Talented composer-librettist teams will showcase three world premiere one-act operas with the Cafritz Young Artists among the casts.

This year’s talented artists include librettist Clare Fuyuko Bierman, composer Kyle Brenn, librettist Lex Brown, composer JL Marlor, librettist Christine Evans, and composer Omar Najmi.

American Opera Initiative (AOI) mentorship is led by Director Christopher Cano, Artistic Advisor Kelley Rourke, conductor George Manahan, librettist mentor Tracy K. Smith, and composer mentor Gregory Spears.