Photo Journal: New York City Opera's VOX Festival

By Ben Mattison
May 12, 2006

New York City Opera presented readings of 12 new or unperformed American operas at its VOX Festival at New York University on May 5 and 6.

For the first time in VOX's history, the festival included electronic music, including Anne LeBaron's Crescent City, a tale of a fictional city recovering from a Katrina-like disaster with a libretto by Philip Littell, and scenes from composer/DJ Mason Bates' first opera, California Fictions.

The festival also included Thomas Pasatieri’s new work Frau Margot, set to a libretto by Frank Corsaro and featuring soprano Lauren Flanigan in the title role, and Los Angeles-based percussionist/composer William Kraft’s setting of Anchee Min’s memoir, Communist China Red Azalea, with a libretto by Christopher Hawes.

Photos by Carol Rosegg.