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.

Wes Mason takes on Bernie Madoff

Barihunk Wes Mason, who just finished a successful run as Curly in Oklahoma! at the Utah Festival Opera, will be turning his attention to another American tale. On September 14th, he'll be singing the role of Bernie Madoff in a workshop of composer Luna Pearl Woolf's new opera The Pillar.

The opera is based on Diana Henriques’ bestselling book The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust. The opera tells the tale Ruth Madoff, who has dedicated her whole life to her husband, a pillar of the community. When Bernie Madoff falls into disgrace, she must finally confront choices—and consequences—of truly operatic proportions. The story digs beneath the surface of this contemporary scandal to uncover a timeless meditation on loyalty, corruption, and the nature of love.

Mason will be part of a workshop at the Opera America Center Recital Hall at 330 Seventh Avenue in New York where the audience can hear selection of the opera and offer feedback.

You can RSVP and reserve your seat by clicking here or by visiting: http://tinyurl.com/ThePillarRSVP

 Wes Mason rehearsing Curly in Oklahoma!

We asked Wes about working on The Pillar and this is what he told us:

"It has been such a joy of a process rehearsing and discovering with Luna, David and everyone. When you are in a room with a top notch team of artisans that are able to share their insight and take direction from the creators of a work, you just light up with inspiration. The music, the words, and the interpretation of the other singers has moved me to tears. This is a fascinating work so far. Workshops are a real gift."

Upcoming performances include Ford in Nicoai's The Merry Wives of Windsor at Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Stanley in Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire at Kentucky Opera, Jonathan Reed in Dove's Siren Song with Hawaii Opera and the title role of Hamlet in the Ambroise Thomas classic at the Fort Worth Opera Festival.