CU Boulder New Opera Workshop (CU NOW)

Welcome to theÌęCU Boulder New Opera Workshop (CU NOW) at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music!
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Founded in 2010 by Leigh Holman, director of the Eklund Opera Program, CU NOW is the first program of its kind in a U.S. academic institution: CU NOW is an extended workshop where graduate voice students have direct interaction with living composers and librettists to develop and perform their music—resulting in premieres at Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Wexford Festival Opera and more.
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Guests have included Mark Adamo, Mark Campbell, Tom Cipullo, Herschel Garfein, Jake Heggie, Lori Laitman, Libby Larsen, Gene Scheer and Kamala Sankaram.Ìę
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Nestled at the foothills of Boulder, Colorado, visiting composers and librettists love the oasis of CU NOW where their creativity blossoms with invaluable resources at their fingertips: Skilled and eager singers as well as premium music staff, directors and production personnel. Says Jake Heggie, one of the most well-known living opera composers:Ìę
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The longest workshop I’ve ever had was five or six days. So to have nearly three weeks to work on it and change it every day is extraordinary. —Jake Heggie

The student impact is even greater. Says Grammy Award-winning bass Wei Wu (MMus ’13):ÌęÌę

I’mÌęso grateful that CU NOW was introduced to me by the Eklund Opera Program and Leigh Holman more than a decade ago. Back then, I worked from scratch with composers and librettists—now, I sing commissioned works at major houses. CU NOW opened a new door for me. —Wei Wu

CU NOW

CU NOW is often a student’s first professional opportunity to implement their academically prepared skills in a familiar setting with Eklund Opera support staff. They grow new skills interfacing and developing with industry professionals, including those visiting from prominent opera companies and established artists. With every major opera house performing new opera, CU NOW offers our students an advantage in the current Golden Age of American Opera. CU NOW is funded exclusively by the generosity of donors.

Upcoming voice + opera + musical theatre events

CU NOW 2026

Overview

CU Alumnus, Pulitzer Prize and Grammy winning librettist, Mark Campbell with Italian composer Alberto Caruso will workshop The Late Signor Zanetti, a comic thriller set in Venice in 1823. When the titular character, a horologist, attempts to repair a pocket watch left in his shop by a mysterious stranger, the activities of his typical evening take a surprising and surreal twist.

CFI returns in 2026 presenting micro operas by composition students mentored by Tom Cipullo.

Performances (all in the Music Theatre):

  • Friday, June 12, 7:30 p.m.—“The Late Signor Zanetti”
  • Saturday, June 13, 7:30 p.m.—CFI Scenes
  • Sunday, June 14, 2 p.m.—“The Late Signor Zanetti”

, guest librettist

The Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning operas of librettist Mark Campbell are among the most successful in the contemporary canon. Campbell has written 42 operas, seven musicals, 11 song cycles and five oratorios. His works include “Silent Night,” “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” “As One,” “Elizabeth Cree,” “The Shining,” “Sanctuary Road,” “A Nation of Others,” “A Thousand Acres,” “Unruly Sun,” “Later the Same Evening” and “Songs from an Unmade Bed.” Campbell has mentored future generations of librettists and composers at American Opera Projects, American Lyric Theatre and the American Opera Initiative. He created and funds the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, the first award for opera librettists in the history of the art form, and co-created the True Voice Award to support transgender and nonbinary singers. He received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association and in 2025 was inducted into Opera America’s Hall of Fame.

, guest composerÌę

Alberto Caruso, born in Trento, lives in Rome. “The Late Signor Zanetti” (libretto by Mark Campbell) will be his fourth opera after “The Little Prince” (Tokyo 2008 in Japanese, Turin 2015 in Italian, libretto by the composer from Saint-ExupĂ©ry), “The Master” (Boulder 2014, Wexford 2022) and “Lady Gregory in America” (Wexford 2024), both with librettos by Colm TĂłibĂ­n. In October 2026, Caruso’s fifth opera, “The First Festival” (libretto by TĂłibĂ­n), will premiere in Ireland, commissioned to celebrate . Ìę

Coming soon!

Since 2014, the Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) inspires College of Music composition students to explore the opera medium through professional mentorship of visiting CU NOW composers and librettists.

Participating composers’Ìęshort opera scenes develop under the guidance of CU NOW industry titans and are then rehearsed, staged, costumed and performed within the summer festival of CU NOW ... and beyond. CFI scenes from the 2023 CU NOW workshop were featured in concert byÌęCU Boulder SoundWorks.

Recent workshops

2025

Mark Adamo, famous for his opera “Little Women” and “The Gospel of Mary Magdalene” at San Francisco Opera, returned in summer 2025 with his latest work, “Sarah in the Theatre.” Over one sleepless day and night, we follow Sarah Caldwell—acclaimed director, conductor and impresario—through the theater she built to greatness. Brilliant, obsessed and intractable, Sarah inspires her artists, fends off creditors, relives her triumphs, and battles with ghosts. With the dawn approaching, we await the pivotal moment that will determine if she is given one final chance to continue the work she lives for or whether the demons of self-sabotage have outrun her luck at last.

In the theatre, I believe history should spark, not replace, drama. Caldwell’s greatest strength—her obsessive dedication to her work—was also her undoing. That singlemindedness enabled revolutionary, humane art inside the opera house, yet caused harsh denial and neglect outside it. The deeper question is: what drives someone to see the basic duties of human life as personal failure? What makes them destroy anything to avoid those obligations? Sarah in the Theatre is my attempt to answer that. - Mark Adamo

Gene Scheer returned to CU NOW as guest composer—alongside collaborating librettist Bill Van Horn—with “Polly Peachum,” a rollicking romantic musical comedy set in the early 1700s that depicts the intertwining worlds of government intrigue, London criminal life and the world of theatre. The story follows John Gay as he endeavors to bring his masterpiece “The Beggar’s Opera” to the stage. In the process, he crosses paths with Jonathan Wild—the foremost criminal mastermind in London—and his beguiling mistress Polly. As this fiery triangle develops and opening night approaches, Gay and his colleagues risk their lives and reputation for love, the bonds of friendship and to bring an enduring work of art to life.

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“The Earthworm Problem”—Holly McMahon
“Heart of the Antarctic”—Alan Mackwell
“Songs of a Soldier”—JC Maynard

Returning to CU NOW was award-winning composer Tom Cipullo whose critically-acclaimed opera, “Glory Denied,” is one of the most frequently performed 21st-century operas. CU NOW workshopped Cipullo’s new two-act opera, “The Calling.” With the inherent drama of near-constant revelations of corruption and hypocrisy, televangelists are an easy target. But the opera is less concerned with scandal than those aspects of contemporary American life that push some people of faith toward these controversial performers. Ìę

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CU NOW presented guest composer Kamala Sankaram’s “Joan of the City”—a site-specific multimedia opera using augmented reality/mixed reality to tell the story of a modern-day Joan of Arc. The libretto for the piece cameÌęfrom collaborations with community organizations that serve homeless populations.

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“The Spare Room With the Shag Rug”—Ilan Blanck
“RuPaul’s Drag Race Allstars” (Season 2: Phi Phi vs. Alyssa)—Jessie LausĂ©Ìę(music), libretto adapted from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Season 2: Episodes 4 and 5)
“Fragments”—James Morris (music), Nnamdi Nwankwo (libretto)
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With their third CU NOW Workshop, Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer teamed with 2021 MacArthur Fellow Jawole Willa Jo Zollar for their civil war era opera “Intelligence” based on a true story. Zollar’s Urban Bush Women were in residence collaborating with students, guest artistsÌęand the creative team. Commissioning company Houston Grand Opera will premiereÌę“Intelligence” in October 2023.Ìę


“Vindicta” (Act 1, Scene 3)—Chase Church
“As You Like It” (Act 1, Scene 1)—Kevin Gunia (adapted from William Shakespeare)
“Perspective” (An opera in one act)—Ben Morris (music), Nnamdi Nwankwo (libretto)

CU NOW hosted award-winning composer Tom Cipullo and his comic opera “Hobson’sÌęChoice” based on the play written by Harold Brighouse and premiered in New York and London in 1916. In its exploration of gender roles, classÌęand social mobility, “Hobson’sÌęChoice” was far ahead of its time.Ìę

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“Dear Love”—Margaret R. Friesen
“Incense and Embers”—Brian Lambert Ìę
“Look What We’ve Done”—Dianna Link

Returning to CU NOW was powerhouse team Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer with their opera “If I Were You,” commissioned and premiered by the Merola Opera Program in 2019. In this modern telling of the “Faust” story, the devil makes a bargain with a dispirited young writer.

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“..”—John Boggs
“”—Margaret R. Friesen
“”—Elena Specht

CU NOW presented Mark Adamo’s “The Gospel of Mary Magdalene” in a revision of his 2011 San Francisco Opera commission. “Leigh Holman and CU NOW—which, I’ve long said, is the best acronym in the business—offered me their sterling singers, their flexible space, their faultless professionalism and their unstinting artistic support when I revised and directed a new version of ‘The Gospel of Mary Magdalene’ in 2017; it utterly transformed the piece, and I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity and the experience. Here’s affirming many more years of fruitful operatic work by CU NOW.”

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“”—John Clay Allen
“”—Kevin Michael Olson
“”—Elena Specht
“Dame Not Lady”—Selena (now Silen)ÌęWellingtonÌę

Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer brought “It’s a Wonderful Life” to CU NOW based on the iconic 1946 Frank Capra movie (by permission of Paramount Licensing, Inc.) and on Philip Van Doren Stern’sÌę“The Greatest Gift.” Commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera and Indiana University, it premiered at Houston Grand Opera in 2016. The College of Music’s Eklund Opera Program presented a new production in 2019.


“The Pansophony Codex”—Aidan Patrick Cook
“”—Kevin Olson Ìę
“Element 88”—Trevor Villwock
“”—Selena (now Silen) Wellington

CU NOW presented “A Song for Susan Smith” by Zach Redler and Mark Campbell. This chamber opera explores the psychological and sociological factors that drove this woman to commit filicide and how the act affected her community.

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“Dreams of Stonewall"—Daniel Cox
“Opera Scene”—Ryan Dakota Farris
“President Chair”—Brian D. Kelly
“Behrouz, An Untold Story”—Egemen Kesikli
“Murder Scene”—K.D. Mueller

CU NOW presented Alberto Caruso and Colm TĂłibin’s opera “The Master” based on Toibin’s novelÌęabout Henry James and how, in the wake of the disastrous failure of his play “Guy Domville,” he gradually retired from public life and devoted himself to writing. It premiered at Wexford Festival Opera in 2022.Ìę

Composer Fellows’ Initiative (CFI) operas + opera scenes
“The Frisco Devil”—Ryan T. Connell
“Who’s Afraid of Oscar Wilde”—Dan Cox
“A Doll’s House”—Raechel Sherwood
“Seven Against Thebes”—Trevor Villwock

CU NOW presented “A Wrinkle in Time” by Libby Larsen based on the novel by Madeleine L’Engle; directed by Leigh Holman with assistance from Libby Larsen.Ìę

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CU NOW presented “Ludlow” by Lori Laitman with libretto by David Mason; directed by Beth Greenberg. The epic storyÌęis based on the 1913-14 coal mining wars of southern Colorado known as the “Ludlow Massacre.”

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CU NOW presented two critically acclaimed composers-in-residence: Kirke Mechem’sÌę“Pride and Prejudice”; and Herschel Garfein’s “RosencrantzÌęand Guildenstern are Dead.”

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The inaugural season of CU NOW premiered Daniel Kellog’s “Autumn Orchard” and excerpts from “Elmer Gantry” by Robert Aldridge with libretto by Herschel Garfein.Ìę

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News + ovations

In the news
  • Ìę(June 16, 2023, CPR News)
  • Ìę(June 14, 2023, Sharps & Flatirons)
  • (August 2019, Opera News)

“New operas are performed in every major opera house. I’m so grateful that CU NOW was introduced to me by the Eklund Opera Program and Leigh Holman more than a decade ago. Back then, I worked from scratch with composers and librettists—now, I sing commissioned works at major houses. CU NOW opened a new door for me.”Ìę
—Wei Wu (MMus ’13),ÌęGrammy Award-winning bass; CU NOW singer 2011-2014Ìę

“I became a modern American opera enthusiast after creating the role of Krystyna Zywulska in the collegiate premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s ‘Out of Darkness: Two Remain’ at LSU in 2019. While I was researching and applying to graduate programs, a family friend sent me an article in Opera News about an exciting new opera program (CU NOW) where both Heggie and Scheer workshopped their new works with graduate students at the University of Colorado Boulder.ÌęBefore reading that article, CU Boulder wasn’t even on my radar. However, the prospect of getting new works on their feet with two of my heroes was an absolute dream I couldn’t pass up. I decided to pursue my graduate studies at CU Boulder in the hopes of being able to participate in CU NOW.ÌęMy educational dreams were realized after my first year at CU Boulder when I was cast in the CU NOW CFI Scenes program where I created three separate roles in fully-staged and costumed scenes written by composition students under the close mentorship of both Scheer and Tom Cipullo.ÌęHaving worked directly with such industry greats was the opportunity of a lifetime—an opportunity that inspired me to commission works to raise awareness about homelessness in a project I'm currently working on with two of the composition students from CFI last summer.ÌęTruly, my experience with CU NOW has been a pinnacle of my music education as a whole and I hope that it serves as a template for other institutions to follow.ÌęThe future of our art form depends on it.”
—Savannah Scott, student singer 2022

“Leigh Holman’s CU NOW is unique, not only for its format but also for its impact.ÌęThe workshop combines some of the nation’s most important composers–including Jake Heggie, Mark Adamo, Lori Laitman and Kamala Sankaram–with the time and resources they need to craft and revise the next generation of operatic masterworks.ÌęAs the guiding force behind every aspect of the workshop, Holman has made a major contribution to the field of contemporary American vocal music. In its scope and duration, as well as in the quality of its preparation and presentation, there is not another program like CU NOW in the nation. Those that love opera and wish to see it thrive in the 21st-century thank the stars for CU NOW and for Leigh Holman. Of course, when you work with young people, that’s extra special. The enthusiasm and energy that I get from them is a really great joy.”
—Tom Cipullo,Ìęcomposer of “Glory Denied”Ìę(2007) based on the true story of America’s longest-held prisoner of war. With over 20 productions, the piece is one of the most frequently performed operas of the 21st-century.Ìę

“All sorts of possibilities emerge, but they can really only emerge when you actually see it on its feet.”
—Gene Scheer,Ìęcomposer, librettist and songwriter with multiple Grammy Award nominations. Frequent collaborator of Jake Heggie and other prominent creators including Wynton Marsalis and Jennifer Higdon. .ÌęÌę

“The longest workshop I’ve ever had was five or six days. SoÌęto have nearly three weeks to work on it and change it every day is extraordinary.ÌęWorking in the Boulder setting is like getting Broadway previews without the critics.”
—Jake Heggie
In addition to several full-length operas and numerous one-acts, Heggie has composed hundreds ofÌęart songs, as well as concerti, chamber music, choral and orchestral works. New York’s Metropolitan Opera has announced bold new productions of “Dead Man Walking” and “Moby-Dick” for upcoming seasons. “Dead Man Walking”—“the most celebrated American opera of the 21st century” (Chicago Tribune)—has received 75 international productions since its premiere in October 2000.Ìę
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“Leigh Holman and CU NOW—which, I’ve long said, is the best acronym in the business—offered me their sterling singers, their flexible space, their faultless professionalism and their unstinting artistic support when I revised and directed a new version of ‘The Gospel of Mary Magdalene’Ìęin Boulder in 2016. It utterly transformed the piece, and I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity and the experience. Here’s affirming many more years of fruitful operatic work by CU NOW.”
—Mark Adamo, whoÌęfirst attracted national attention with his uniquely celebrated dĂ©but opera, “Little Women,”Ìęafter the Louisa May Alcott novel. Introduced by the Houston Grand Opera in 1998 and revived there in 2000, “Little Women”Ìęis one of the most frequently performed American operas of the last 15 years, with more than 135 national and international engagements.Ìę
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“CU NOW offers an experience unequalled anywhere in this country: The opportunity for singers, composers, librettistsÌęand directors to come together under fully professional conditions to nurture and develop new works for the operatic stage.ÌęLeigh Holman knows precisely how that difficult work gets done. The time I spent there, as both a creator and a teacher, was inspiring! No conjecture, no theory, all practice.”Ìę
—Herschel Garfein, two-time Grammy Award winner Herschel Garfein is active as a composer, librettist and stage director. In 2012-13, he earned an NYU Teaching Excellence Award.Ìę
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“Eklund Opera and CU NOW are extremely important. Many music schools and conservatories don’t train musicians in opera [...] Programs like CU NOW train our future composers and librettists how to tell stories passionately and adroitly through music and text. By creating new operas about the American experience, CU NOW helps ensure that opera remains relevant—and that it will have a future. [...] We can never really know how an aria sounds until it is sung by that soprano that we’ve written it for.”
—Mark Campbell whose Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning operas of are among the most successful in the contemporary canon.ÌęA prolific writer and librettist/lyricist, Campbell has created more than 40 opera librettos, as well as lyrics for musicals, and the text for song cycles and oratorios.Ìę
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“It’s so valuable to have a safe space with really talented actors, directors, music directors who can handle changes within a very short amount of time to get a piece to the next level.Ìę[...]ÌęThese kind of development opportunities don’t really exist too much in the world anymore.”Ìę
—Zach Redler,Ìęcomposer and faculty at NYU Tisch’s Graduate Music Theater Writing Program.Ìę
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“I can’t stress enough how important programs like this are for opera. For young composers today, the biggest challenge we have is that we cannot get enough performances.”Ìę
—Egemen Kesikli,Ìę2015 CFI student composerÌęnow on faculty at CU Boulder and CSU.Ìę
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“CU NOW helped me learn that I love opera and have a passion for bringing together all the theatrical pieces of storytelling into one art form. Because of CU NOW, I was able to build a repertoire of opera music which helped me tremendously in opening new doors, including at the Kennedy Center through the American Opera Initiative.”Ìę
—Silen Wellington

“CU NOW is one of the great examples of how contemporary American opera has established its place in the operatic ecosystem. The opportunity for music students to work alongside living composers and librettists, and for those creators to hear their work performed live, is an invaluable combination. Houston Grand Opera has had two workshops with CU NOW, both of which were essential to the creative process for each opera. The work that the Eklund Opera Program has done to build a program of artistic excellence and exploration already has and will continue to enhance the world of opera and the musical lives of so many.”Ìę
—Jeremy Johnson, Associate Director of New Works, Houston Grand Opera

Personnel

Leigh Holman, Founder + Artistic DirectorÌę
Bud Coleman, CFIÌęDirector
Nicholas Carthy, Music Director

Previous:Ìę
Jeremy Reger, Music Director (2015-2022)Ìę
Robert Spillman, Music Director (2010-2015)Ìę
Patrick Mason, CFI Founder, Managing Director (2014-2016)
Daniel Kellogg, CFI Managing Director (2017-2019)Ìę