VOX: American Voices Opera Lab has announced its four 2027 finalists, whose works will be presented at the VOX Showcase at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York on Thursday, April 1, 2027.

The finalists are “Desert Bloom,” with music by Gillian Rae Perry and a libretto by Mo Holmes; “Robeson/Moscow,” with music by Scott Davenport Richards and a libretto by David Cote and Richards; “The Wedding Banquet,” with music by Huang Ruo and a libretto by James Schamus; and “Fallingwater,” with music by Joshua Schmidt and a libretto by Dick Scanlan.

“Desert Bloom” follows Mia, who is grieving her mother, as she meets Teo, the century old spirit of a woman who died beside the grave of her beloved, a soldier in the Mexican Revolution. “Robeson/Moscow” traces singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson’s life through the lens of a personal crisis in a Moscow hotel in 1961, including his 1934 visit to Moscow and his persecution in the United States during the anti-Communist era. Robin Guarino provides dramaturgy and direction. “The Wedding Banquet,” inspired by Ang Lee’s 1993 film and Andrew Ahn’s 2025 remake, follows a couple who cannot afford further fertility treatment and a friend who proposes a marriage of convenience to help fund it. “Fallingwater,” commissioned by the Met/Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program, is set in 1930s Pittsburgh and follows a department store owner who commissions Frank Lloyd Wright to design a country house as his family’s private conflicts converge.

Michael Mayer directs, with dramaturgy by Paul Cremo and associate dramaturgy by Karl Ronneburg.

The relaunched VOX is a collaboration among seven New York organizations: American Composers Orchestra, which provides the orchestra; Beth Morrison Projects, which produces VOX, with Beth Morrison serving as director and creative producer; MasterVoices, which provides the chorus, with artistic director Ted Sperling serving as VOX’s music director; the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, which provides principal singers; the Manhattan School of Music and Mannes School of Music, which provide additional singers; and the Perelman Performing Arts Center, which presents the production and provides the venue.

“Bringing VOX back to life after all these years is both an honor and a privilege, and to do so alongside this extraordinary cohort of partners is a dream come true,” said Beth Morrison,VOX’s Director and Creative Producer, per an official press release. “We are thrilled to showcase four remarkable new works conceived for the grand opera stage—and to celebrate opera as the vibrant, living art form it is.”

VOX originated in 1999 as New York City Opera’s VOX: Showcasing American Opera, presenting excerpts of new grand operas by contemporary American composers. Beth Morrison led the program in 2010 and 2011, after which New York City Opera ceased operations.