Tod Machover’s “Overstory Overture” gets its world premiere on March 7, 2023, at Alice Tully Hall, New York City.

The opera, which will feature mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, was commissioned by Sejong Soloists and will be conducted by Earl Lee. The work is based on Richard Power’s Pulitzer-winning novel “The Overstory.”

‘For me, no book has spoken more eloquently and passionately about the price humanity pays by separating ourselves from the world around us than Richard Powers’ “The Overstory,”‘ said Machover in an official press statement. ‘As part of my project to create a full-length opera based on this great novel, “Overstory Overture” introduces the central character and main themes of the book, as well as the sounds, structures and sensations that dramatize the networked intelligence of the natural world; the unthinking harm that we subject it to; and the possibility of a completely new view of our interconnected responsibility and potential. Working on this project with my long-time collaborator Joyce DiDonato, as well as with Sejong Soloists, has been a creative delight and privilege, and we can’t wait to share the new work with New York and Seoul audiences in March.’

The 30-minute work will be included in a program that includes music by Michael Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Webern.

This is Machover’s first operatic work since 2018. It will get a subsequent performance on March 16 at Seoul Arts Center in Korea.