Musical Frontiers

Article Published: 28 Mar 2023

Musical Frontiers

The Iraqi American composer Amir ElSaffar is accustomed to crossing genres, working in idioms ranging from Western classical music and jazz to the music of the Middle East. But until recently, he hadn’t broached one particular musical frontier: opera. “For years, I have been dreaming of composing an opera in Arabic based on the Maqam music of Iraq, and of presenting the poetry, themes, and musical language of a culture that has received little representation in the opera world,” says ElSaffar.

IDEA Opera Residencies provide New York City-based composers and librettists of color with an opportunity to explore opera as an expressive medium. In February, OPERA America announced ElSaffar as one of its IDEA Resident Artists, along with librettist Kendell Pinkney and composer/librettist Paul Pinto. As residents, each artist receives a year-long residency at OPERA America’s National Opera Center; awards valued at $25,000 for creating new works, career development and self-promotion, and recording services and facility rentals; and mentorship and coaching from industry leaders.

IDEA Opera Residences supported by the Katherine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund of The Scherman Foundation.

IDEA OPERA RESIDENT ARTISTS

Amir ElSaffar, composer
Amir ElSaffar is a composer, trumpeter, santur player, and vocalist. As a composer, he merges the traditional Arabic Maqam modal system with contemporary Western harmony in compositions for orchestras, string quartets, and jazz and Middle Eastern ensembles. From 2016 to 2019, he was the composer in residence of the transcultural music program at the Royaumont Foundation in France, and in 2021, he held a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University to develop his first opera. ElSaffar tours internationally with the Two Rivers Ensemble, a sextet of jazz and Middle Eastern musicians, and the Rivers of Sound Orchestra.

Kendell Pinkney, librettist
Kendell Pinkney is a Brooklyn-based theater artist, producer, and rabbi. He is the founding artistic director of The Workshop, a New York-based arts and culture fellowship that supports the work of artists of BIPOC-Jewish heritage. His work has been developed and presented at venues such as Feinstein’s/54 Below, Joe’s Pub, Two River Theater, and Goodspeed Opera House. Currently, Pinkney is working on a play for Theater J in Washington, D.C.

Paul Pinto, composer/librettist
Paul Pinto is a composer, performer, and multidisciplinary artist who works in music, new media, and durational performance, often collaborating with collectives like thingNY, Varispeed, and LoveLoveLove. He has performed in Peter Maxwell Davies and Randolph Stow’s Eight Songs for a Mad King with Tenth Intervention, Robert Ashley’s Perfect Lives with Varispeed, and Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway. Pinto wrote and performed in the electronic opera Thomas Paine in Violence starring Joan La Barbara.

This article was published in the Spring 2023 issue of Opera America Magazine.