BIPOC Composer Librettist Development Program

Loose Tea Music Theatre’s
BIPOC Composer Librettist Development Program Creators Announced

Loose Tea Music Theatre is excited to announce our first creators to participate in our new BIPOC Composer Librettist Development Program.

We are thrilled to be working with and mentoring a team of composers and librettists. Composer Ashley Au has been paired with librettist Christene Browne to realize Browne’s libretto Inertia, about elderly isolation and death.

Loose Tea Music Theatre’s BIPOC Composer and Librettist Development Program is a two-year program that supports the development of diverse creators new to opera and music theatre. Two teams of BIPOC-identifying composers and librettists, who have not had the opportunity to explore their creative voices in opera have been selected to write a 30-45 minute chamber opera with the support from four established composers and librettists mentors throughout the process. Our selected creators will develop their pieces during two extensive workshops (a reading and development workshop in the summer of 2021 and a fully staged with tech workshop in the summer of 2022) and through multiple small workshops as their new works require throughout the process. A full commissioning fee will be paid to the creators, inclusive of the mentorship component. Through the development of this program, Loose Tea commits to making significant actionable change in opera, to address systemic racism and underrepresentation.

“I have always been an admirer of contemporary independent opera and had not considered how I could play a creative role in this world. I am so excited to be taking part in Loose Tea’s BIPOC Composer/Librettist program. Working with operatic voices and collaborating with a librettist is going to be an adventure.”

Composer Ashley Au

“The opportunity to take part in this inaugural and very important initiative is monumental for someone like me who is just entering the world of opera. I look forward to learning and being fully immersed in the process and seeing my opera, Inertia, on stage at the end of program.”

Librettist Christene Browne

The application process introduced Loose Tea Music Theatre to many incredible people and ideas. In addition to the four participants selected for the program, Artistic Directors Alaina Viau and Joanna Diindiisikwe Simmons decided to commission Olivia Shortt with her piece called The Museum that is an allegory about how our society treats missing person cases specifically MMIWG2S.

“We cannot wait to hit the ground running with the first co-horts of this program. We believe that this program will help bring needed change to an industry where there is extraordinarily little BIPOC representation. We are fiercely dedicated to facilitate artist growth, experimentation, and curiosity by offering access to programs such as this. We welcome our group of composers and librettist and we look forward to working with them and helping them develop new skills in becoming successful in this field. We are also thrilled to be able to offer commissioning of Olivia Shortt’s opera!”

Artistic Directors Alaina Viau and Joanna Diindiisikwe Simmons

Click Here to See Creators’ Biographies

Click Here to See Our New Team Members’ Biographies

Click Here to See Mentors’ Biographies