DOG DAYS: 15th ANNIVERSARY CONCERTDOG DAYS: 15th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

David T. Little (Composer) is "one of the most imaginative young composers" on the scene (The New Yorker), with "a knack for overturning musical conventions" (The New York Times). His operas Dog Days, JFK, and Vinkensport (librettos by Royce Vavrek), and Soldier Songs have been widely acclaimed, "prov[ing] beyond any doubt that opera has both a relevant present and a bright future" (The New York Times). Other recent works include how it begins / how it ends (London Sinfonietta / BGSU), The Conjured Life (Cabrillo Festival / Cristian Macelaru), Ghostlight—ritual for six players (eighth blackbird / The Kennedy Center), AGENCY (Kronos Quartet), and dress in magic amulets, dark, from My feet (The Crossing / ICE). Little is currently composing a new opera with Royce Vavrek, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater new works program, and the music-theatre work Artaud in the Black Lodge with poet Anne Waldman (Beth Morrison Projects). His music has been presented by the LA Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, LA Opera, the Park Avenue Armory, Holland Festival, the Bang on a Can Marathon, BAM Next Wave, Opéra de Montréal, and elsewhere. He co-founded the New Music Bake Sale, previously served as Executive Director of MATA, and from 2012–2018, served on the board of directors at Chamber Music America. He teaches Composition at Mannes-The New School, and from 2014–2017, served as Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia and Music-Theatre Group. The founding artistic director of the ensemble Newspeak, his music can be heard on New Amsterdam, Innova, and National Sawdust Tracks labels.

Headshot by Merri Cyr

Royce Vavrek (Librettist) has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker), a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), and “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times). His notable work includes JFK (Fort Worth Opera/American Lyric Theater/Opéra de Montréal) and Dog Days(Peak Performances @ Montclair/Beth Morrison Projects/Fort Worth Opera/LA Opera/Prototype Festival/Theatre Bielefeld/Staatstheater Schwerin) with David T. Little; “27” (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis/Pittsburgh Opera/MasterVoices) with Ricky Ian Gordon; Breaking the Waves (Opera Philadelphia/PROTOTYPE Festival) Song from the Uproar (Beth Morrison Projects/The Kitchen/LA Opera/Milwuakee Opera Theater/Chautauqua Opera) with Missy Mazzoli; Angel’s Bone (Prototype Festival) with Du Yun; O Columbia (HGOco) with Gregory Spears; and The Hubble Cantata(Bay Chamber Concerts/VisionIntoArt/BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!/Beth Morrison Projects) with Paola Prestini. Upcoming projects include Midwestern Gothic with Joshua Schmidt for Signature Theatre, Virginia; The House Without a Christmas Tree with Ricky Ian Gordon for Houston Grand Opera; Stoned Prince with Hannah Lash for American Opera Projects and the Virginia Arts Festival; and Proving Up with Missy Mazzoli, an adaptation of Karen Russell’s short story for Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha and The Miller Theatre. Royce is Co-Artistic Director with soprano Lauren Worsham of the opera-theater company The Coterie, and an alumnus of Concordia University (Montreal), the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at NYU, and American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program.

Headshot by Ricardo Beas.

Robert Woodruff has directed over 70 productions at theatres including Lincoln Center Theater, The Public Theater and BAM. Most recently, he directed CARAVAGGIO TERMINAL for the Hungarian State Theatre in Cluj, ELSEWHERE A CELLO OPERA with co-creator Maya Beiser for BAM and adaptation of Fassbinder's IN A YEAR WITH THIRTEEN MOONS for Yale Repertory Theater. He directed the premiere's of Zhou Long's MADAME WHITE SNAKE for Opera Boston and The Beijing Music Festival and Philip Glass's APPOMATTOX for San Francisco Opera. Internationally, his work has been seen at the Habimah National Theatre in Israel, The Sydney Arts Festival, Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Hong Kong Festival of the Arts, The Jerusalem Festival, Spoleto Festival USA. and Toneelgroep Amsterdam. Early work included many premiere productions with Sam Shepard including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Buried Child. He has taught at Columbia University, Harvard University and NYU. From 2002-2007 has was artistic director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge MA. He was named a 2007 USE Biller Fellow by United States Artists. He is now on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama.

Alan Pierson is the Artistic Director and conductor of the acclaimed ensemble Alarm Will Sound, and served as the Artistic Director and conductor of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. As a guest conductor, Pierson has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, L.A. Opera, Nationaltheater Mannheim, the London Sinfonietta, the Steve Reich Ensemble, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the New World Symphony, and the Silk Road Project, among other ensembles. He is co-director of the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble, and has been a visiting faculty conductor at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, and at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity. Pierson regularly collaborates with major composers and performers, including YoYo Ma, Steve Reich, Dawn Upshaw, Osvaldo Golijov, John Adams, David T. Little, Augusta Read Thomas, David Lang, Donnacha Dennehy, La Monte Young, Tyshawn Sorey, and choreographers John Heginbotham, Christopher Wheeldon, Akram Khan and Eliot Feld. He has spearheaded critically acclaimed cross-genre collaborations with artists like Yasiin Bey, Erykah Badu, and Medeski Martin and Wood. Beyond his work in the concert hall, Pierson is an avid recording producer and artist, having released 30 albums on Nonesuch Records, Sony Classical, Cantaloupe Music, Oehms Classics, and Sweetspot DVD. Mr. Pierson received bachelor degrees in physics and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a doctorate in conducting from the Eastman School of Music. In 2022, he received the Eastman School of Music Centennial Award.