The American Lyric Theater has announced a free Opera Writers Symposium scheduled between Feb. 27- April 24, 2021.

The course aims to offer artists an opportunity to check out the American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program. The Symposium is open to all artists in all genres of music and literature. Artists with no previous experience in opera are encouraged to participate.

The Symposium will feature ATL’s founder Lawrence Edelson alongside Associate Artistic Director Kelly Kuo, who will lead the symposium course “From Erased to Self-Empowered: Celebrating BIPOC Opera Composers and Librettists.”

Other course topics include “Opera, Technology, and Innovation” which will be taught by composers Kamala Sankaram and Jorge Sosa, as well as “The Architecture of Opera,” presented by composer / librettist Mark Adamo. Other presentations include “How to Have a Happy Marriage: Collaboration Best Practices,”  and “Writing Opera and the Law.”Other guest speakers will include Missy Mazzoli, Huang Ruo, Anthony Davis, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Errollyn Wallen, Mark Campbell, Thulani Davis, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and David Henry Hwang.

The Symposium is part of the organization’s recently announced Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative, which aims to challenge the structural inequality and racism inherent in the industry as it pertains to operatic writers. The aim is to increase the number of BIPOC artists writing for opera.