Puppy Episode

James O’Leary specializes in popular music and opera, and focuses his research on Broadway musicals of the 1940s. He investigates the ways in which composers have strategically and self-consciously projected aesthetic hierarchies (high art versus popular, highbrow versus middlebrow) to…

A native of New York City, pianist Daniel Michalak holds degrees in music from Harvard University and in piano performance from Indiana University (Bloomington), where he studied with Edward Auer and the late Michel Block. He later returned to IU…

Taiwanese-American conductor Tiffany Chang is determined to improve ensemble work culture for musicians and to help artists pursue purpose so they can feel fulfilled every day. Chang is recognized internationally for her exceptional artistry, formidable versatility, and unshakable integrity that…

Royce Vavrek is a Canada-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist who has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker) a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times), and “one…

Kevin Duchon graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelors in Theatrical Lighting.  Known for his use of color and “out of reality” effects, Kevin has worked in the theaters of Ohio, New York City, and Philadelphia on various theatrical…

Avid vocal composer, Matthew Recio recently finished his post as Vanguard emerging opera composer with Chicago Opera Theatre. During his residency he developed operas with librettists Royce Vavrek (2021) and Stephanie Fleischmann (2020). The concert presentation of his work with Royce, “The Puppy…