It’s been a busy summer! I’m back from my residency in rural Pennsylvania, followed by an incredible experience in Wichita culminating in the world premiere of Staggerwing at Opera Kansas. It was a whirlwind of rehearsals, radio and TV interviews, outreach events, and meetings with Wichita luminaries including the children and grandchildren of Walter and Olive Ann Beech. (And so much food I could barely fit into my opening night dress at the end of the week). The Beech family, whose support went a long way toward making this production happen, responded enthusiastically to the result and are excited to see more productions of Staggerwing in the future. After two years of hard work and uncertainty, Lisa and I were so proud of what Opera Kansas was able to accomplish in the wake of such national insanity. Putting up a world premiere opera is hard enough during the best of times! “Alllllll the malted milk balls” to the cast, designers, orchestra, and crew who made it a physical reality. And most of all, so much love to Artistic Director Ashley Winters, Dr. Lyle Zepick, and the opera company board—the most dedicated, exuberant, and hands-on board you will ever see. If you have any shekels to spare, please send them to Opera Kansas to get this company more resources to keep producing adventurous new work and making good on their promises to involve their community. Together we created something that truly spoke directly to the heart of Wichita, including some former Ninety-Nines and aviation experts who complimented me on the accuracy of the libretto! But the highest praise came from audience member, who told me in his joyfully inebriated condition, “I don’t even like opera. I HATE opera. But tonight, you saved it!” I think that’s a bit of an overreach, but I’ll take it. Unfortunately for all who tuned in, the livestream had some audio issues, but Opera Kansas is working to make a new video available . I will also add a gallery of production photos once they are available. And there is more on the horizon for our Louise, Blanche, Dewey, Olive Ann, and Walter, so please stay tuned!

So: now that I’ve returned to Brooklyn, I can elaborate about various endeavors about which I’ve previously dropped hints, as well as some new items.

First up, beginning this weekend, Resonance Works Pittsburgh and Bare Opera are teaming up for a virtual recital series including several of my songs. I’m especially excited that my setting of “Music for a While” is kicking it off. This is one from the vault that is so rarely done, and I can’t wait to have a stellar performance and recording publicly available. More information and tickets here.
I recently finished a new song cycle for soprano Janani Sridhar. It’s always heartwarming when someone I don’t already know well reaches out to ask for new music. Janani’s recital has also been postponed a few times due to the pandemic, surprising no one. Right now we anticipate a Spring 2022 performance of For Janani, settings of poetry by Joshua McGuire and Reese Leyva, at Centenary College, where she is on the faculty.
Next on the DeSpain/Peters docket is a virtual micro opera adaptation of Dorothy Parker’s short story, Men I’m Not Married To. This is a collaboration between Cleveland Opera Theater, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, and On Site Opera. Like everything else these days, the release has been moved around a few times. For now, here is an overview of the whole series of micro operas; When we have firm dates and complete details about how to view, I will be sure to share.
Meanwhile, you can hear more about that one, Staggerwing, and the larger process of collaboration alternating between what Mister Husband calls “The Blah-Blah-Blah Hat” (for text) and “The La-La-La Hat” (for composing) on this episode of the Words First Podcast, which was released earlier this week. Keturah Stickann is doing yeo[wo]man’s work by focusing on the craft of opera from the librettist’s point of view, which is something we don’t talk about enough as a field. I was beleaguered by persistent insomnia, continued grief over Adam’s passing, and tunnel vision trying to make progress on my latest score, so please be gentle with your critique. Keturah is a delightful interviewer, an extremely knowledgeable professional, and a judicious editor of my nonlinear musings. Check it out while you’re doing the dishes or in transit.
Over the past year, I’ve been on my maiden voyage in a writers’ room for Public Access, an operatic fantasia miniseries on Madame Mari Lyn, that phenomenon of 1980s NYC public access TV and cult favorite of opera fans. If you are not familiar with Madame Mari Lyn and her “Golden Treasury of Song”, this old clip ought to pique your interest. And if you think you already know everything about Mari Lyn, there’s a *lot* more to be told, more than even her most devoted followers ever suspected. I’m very excited to be part of the brain trust bringing this bizarre story to life: composer Evan Mack, playwrights Jonathan West and Arlene Hutton, director/dramaturg Kristine McIntyre, soprano Emily Pulley , and producer liaison and superstar baritone Michael Mayes. We are on the hunt for opportunities to bring this wackadoo adventure to audiences far and wide.
Last, but never least, I’m this close to finishing the vocal score to the unexpectedly life-and-perspective-altering commission I alluded to earlier. I can’t say anything more yet, but I am definitely not at a loss for words when it comes to this piece—indeed, I keep cutting and cutting from the libretto as the music gets closer to completion.