Clint Borzoni's erotic "When Adonis Calls" to get NY workshop premiere

Grant Youngblood and Michael Weyandt

If you live in New York and missed the new opera workshop at Frontiers at the Fort Worth Opera, you're in luck. There will be a workshop reading of the sensational new work by composer Clint Borzoni and librettist John De Los Santos presented by operamission on Thursday, May 21 at 8 PM in the rehearsal hall at OPERA America's National Opera Center (330 Seventh Avenue at 29th Street) in New York.

The Poet will be sung by Grant Youngblood and The Muse by Michael Weyandt. The performance will feature string quartet and percussion and be conducted by Jennifer Peterson. The opera is based on the homoerotic poetry of Gavin Geoffrey Dillard.

You can watch the clips from Frontiers, which feature Tyson Deaton conducting with piano accompaniment by Stephen Carey. Wes Mason sang The Poet and Matt Moeller sang The Muse.

John De Los Santos and Clint Borzoni discuss "When Adonis Calls"

The performance will also include the world premiere of Clint Borzoni's song cycle "Earth, my likeness" featuring countertenor Daniel Bubeck. The piece is based on the poems of Constantine Cavafy, May Swenson and Walt Whitman.

Tickets are $20 in advance and are available online.

Brian Mextorf in operamission recital series

Brian Mextorf

Emerging talent Brian Mextorf, who we introduced back in February, will be performing as part of operamission's 90-minute recital series, which occurs on the last Thursday of each month. Mextorf will perform Edvard Grieg's Six Songs, Op. 48 on April 30th in a program that also includes soprano Laura Kelleher singing Claude Debussy's Ariettes Oubliées and tenor David Kellett singing Schumann's Dichterliebe. The Grieg will be performed in its original German.

Tenor Cullen Gandy and Brian Mextorf sing the Pearl Fishers duet:

Other performances include a March 26th program featuring German songs peformed by tenor Mark Duffin, baritone Grant Youngblood, soprano Elisabeth Turchi and countertenor David Stanley. On May 28th, tenor Adam Klein will sing Schubert's Schwanengesang along with mezzo-soprano Kimberly Sogioka performing Berlioz's Les Nuits d'Été.

Tickets for the first three programs are currently on sale for $20 online.  Cabaret and conventional seating include light refreshments and opportunity to meet the artists.Conductor Jennifer Peterson accompanies at the piano and curates the programs.