Taos Opera Institute 2026

Another beautiful summer at Taos Opera Institute. The picture is from the interior of the radio KNCE which has its studio inside a vintage airstream trailer. (The Opera Institute sticker is the mountain near the middle.) The weather this time of year up in the ski valley is perfect, with lows in the 30s-40s and highs in the 50s-50s. This summer we are doing RSBE.

Here's a closeup of a magpie

and here's what a beaver can do to a tree.

Overheard at Rough Cuts

Now in its twenty-ninth season, Ben Krywosz has been helping new work make it to the stage through the Rough Cuts series, one of several different streams at Nautilus Music Theater. He carefully picks performers, with an aesthetic that balances singing styles and commitment to musical storytelling. Strictly an on-book reading, he is careful to emphasize this with music stands and limitations on the amount of physical acting permitted to the performers. Like all new work workshops and readings, this has been tremendously helpful in questioning my assumptions about songs and characters, with the extra added pleasure of being able to work with some seasoned performers who aren't afraid to tell me what they think!

OVERHEARD is gradually headed toward its premiere at Taos Opera Institute. It is built like SPEED DATING TONIGHT! and RSBE, with a modular, flexible structure, with most of the songs ungendered and available in all vocal ranges. The difference with OVERHEARD is that I'm attempting to give more characters the chance to have more satisfying story arcs, something that the earlier shows only have a bit of. 

After the on-book reading at Rough Cuts, Susan Ashbaker's Cooperative program at Westminster Opera Theater will do an off book workshop in July 2026.