'Penny' from American Opera Project

Deborah Nansteel in Penny, Washington National Opera (photo by Scott Suchman)
Charles T. Downey, In New Opera, Music Pries Open A Sealed Mind
Classical Voice North America, January 28

WASHINGTON, D.C. — What goes on in the minds of people who have been diagnosed with autism? How do they perceive the world and those around them? Penny, a one-hour opera premiered by Washington National Opera on Jan. 23 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, attempts to delve into this mystery through the medium of music. This surprising new work, reuniting composer Douglas Pew and librettist Dara Weinberg, is the most recent presentation from the company’s American Opera Initiative, a project to nurture new works by rising American composers.

Weinberg based her libretto on her own original story about an autistic adult who...

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Douglas Pew, Penny
Libretto by Dara Weinberg
American Opera Project
Washington National Opera
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

SEE ALSO:
Anne Midgette, With ‘Penny,’ WNO shows merits of American Opera Initiative (Washington Post, January 26)

Tim Smith, A new opera, early Tchaikovsky symphony at the Kennedy Center (Baltimore Sun, January 28)

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