by Mike Telin
The creation of new opera is a passion of Scott Skiba, Cleveland Opera Theater’s executive artistic director. And earlier this month Skiba and his company brought that passion to life during the third annual {New Opera Works Festival}, which was held at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory from February 4 through February 9. From the beginning, {NOW} has included partnerships with area music institutions — this year’s the Festival involved collaborations with Baldwin Wallace, Bowling Green State University, the Cleveland Composers Guild, Hiram College, and Oberlin. [Read more…]
When 
In an age when the word “opera,” to most, means the historical canon — that body of works that recirculate through the world’s houses each year — it bears repeating as often as possible that new efforts in the genre have flourished of late. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Cleveland Opera Theater, the Maltz Performing Arts Center at the Temple-Tifereth Israel, the Cleveland Composers’ Guild, and the Baldwin Wallace and Oberlin Conservatories of Music, Northeast Ohio audiences recently had a chance to hear scenes from three new works-in-progress by area composers and librettists.
It’s hard to say what’s most interesting about the new opera 
Although composer Dawn Sonntag was well-versed in writing art song, vocal chamber music, and works for chorus, there was one thing missing from her catalogue of works for the voice — an opera. “I wanted to compose one but I had not found a libretto that I connected with,” the Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Hiram College said during a telephone conversation.
