Boston Metro Opera
| Company type | Non-profit |
|---|---|
| Industry | Opera company |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founder | Christopher Aaron Smith |
| Defunct | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Boston , United States |
Key people | Christopher Aaron Smith (General and Artistic Director) |
| Products | Opera performances, Boston-International Contempo Festival |
Boston Metro Opera was a semi-professional opera troupe located in the Greater Boston region of Massachusetts. Concentrating on modern compositions, it functioned from 2008 until 2015 and organized the Boston-International Contempo Festival alongside its International Composers' Competition.
History
Established in 2008 by tenor Christopher Aaron Smith, who remained the General and Artistic Director throughout the company's lifespan, Boston Metro Opera became a registered non-profit entity in 2009. Its first events that year consisted of concert performances. The company initially staged three one-act operettas by Offenbach, but soon shifted its focus to contemporary pieces that came to characterize its artistic direction. Following its debut season, it attracted submissions from composers worldwide, receiving 61 new operas and more than 200 song cycles and choral compositions seeking presentation. By 2013, Boston Metro Opera had premiered ninety-four new works, many being world premieres.
The organization introduced several projects such as Opera on Site, a subscription-based streaming platform offering live and recorded performances; Opera Puppets, which created operatic puppet productions; and its signature event, the Boston-International Contempo Festival.
In August 2015, after Christopher Smith relocated to Wisconsin, the board resolved to halt all activities indefinitely.
2012–2013
- Excerpts from Hamlet (David Edgar Walther / William Shakespeare)
- Opera a la carte Gala
2011–2012
- Happy Birthday, David Walther
- Blessings on Your Home (David Edgar Walther / Drew Hubbard)
- "Halloween" from The Swallow and The Prince (David Edgar Walther / Oscar Wilde)
- "Laertes' Lament" from Hamlet (David Edgar Walther / William Shakespeare)
- Nine Spirituals (Traditional / Arranged by David Edgar Walther)
- Second Love from Edward II (David Edgar Walther / Christopher Marlowe)
- "Wolf's Ear" from Edward II (David Edgar Walther / Christopher Marlowe)
- "KeHoTeque's Dream" and "KeHoTeque's Death" from Antigon (David Edgar Walther)
- "Victory" and "Poison Cup" from Edward II (David Edgar Walther / Christopher Marlowe)
- "Heaven" from The Island Curse (David Edgar Walther)
- Six Songs of Innocence and Experience (David Edgar Walther / William Blake)
- Eclipse (David Edgar Walther)
- Cal'mus Songs (David Edgar Walther / Walt Whitman)
- Happy Birthday, Daron Hagen
- Figments (Daron Hagen / Alice Wirth Gray)
- Muldoon Songs (Daron Hagen / Paul Muldoon)
- Merrill Songs (Daron Hagen / James Merrill)
- Echo's Songs (Daron Hagen / Various authors)
- Angel of the Amazon (Evan Mack)
2010–2011
- Glory Denied (Tom Cipullo)
- .Gabriel (Robert J. Bradshaw)
- The Gift of the Magi (David Conte / Nicholas Giardini)
- Amahl & The Night Visitors (Gian Carlo Menotti)
- Antigon (David Edgar Walther)
- Venus & Adonis (Zachary Wadsworth / William Shakespeare)
2009–2010
- Fables (David Edgar Walther)
- The Face on the Barroom Floor (Henry Mollicone)
- A Hand of Bridge (Samuel Barber / Gian Carlo Menotti)
- Le Violoneux (Jacques Offenbach / Eugène Mestépès and Émile Chevalet)
- Les deux pecheurs (Jacques Offenbach / CD Depeuty & E Bourget)
- Lischen et Fritzchen (Jacques Offenbach / Paul Boisselot and Poly Henrion)
- Les deux aveugles (Jacques Offenbach / Jules Moinaux)
- Initial Concert Series
Boston-International Contempo Festival
Initially known as the Contemporary Americana Festival, the Boston-International Contempo Festival was inaugurated in 2010 as a platform for new music, organized by Boston Metro Opera. This event showcased fresh operatic works, musical theatre pieces, choral compositions, and art songs, all chosen through its International Composers' Competition. The festival presented several accolades, including Mainstage Awards, which ensured full-scale productions during Boston Metro Opera's season, and Festival Awards for concert-style performances at the festival itself. On occasion, a Gold Medal was bestowed to honor outstanding compositions. The 2014 edition of the competition—marking the final one before the company's dissolution—attracted over 625 entries from upwards of 120 nations. By that time, the choral music category had been phased out.
Distinguished recipients of awards comprise:
- Katy Abbott, awarded the Gold Medal in Art Song for The Domestic Sublime (2011)
- Nathalie Anderson, recipient of the Mainstage Award in Opera for A Scandal in Bohemia (2012)
- Robert J. Bradshaw, honored with the Mainstage Award in Opera for .Gabriel (2010)
- Jorge Grundman, chosen for the Director's Choice Award in Opera with God's Sketches (2014)
- Alice Ho, granted a Merit Award in Opera for The Imp of the Perverse (2013)
- Sarah Hutchings, awarded a Festival Award in Opera for Remember Me (2012)
- Evan Mack, recipient of the Mainstage Award in Opera for Angel of the Amazon (2011)
- Deirdre McKay, selected for the Director's Choice Award in Opera with Driven (2013)
- Peter K. Winkler, granted a Festival Award in Opera for Fox Fables (2011)