City Opera's acclaimed VOX series has given audiences the chance to preview the future of opera with free presentations of new American works. This year's exciting line-up of 10 works once again spans an incredible artistic and cultural diversity: from a hypnotic adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth to the jazz-infused story of a mixed race musician in the Big Band era; from the hard-edged feminist reinterpreation of the Troilus and Cressida story, sung in "funky middle English," to a lyrical re-telling of the poet Dylan Thomas's stormy relationship with his partner Caitlin.

 

VOX Project Director Yuval Sharon speaks with three of the composers in this year's VOX festival, performing May 10 & 11 at the Skirball Center at New York University.   Free tickets can be reserved at www.vox-nyco.com.

 

Act I (02:31) - David T. Little, the creator of the intense monodrama Soldier Songs, talks about the difference between political and "socially engaged" music-theater.

Act II (12:12) - Dramaturg Cori Ellison speaks with Justine F. Chen, returning to VOX with her Joan of Arc adaptation Jeanne.

 

Act III (18:44) - John King, a long-time collaborator with dance legend Merce Cunningham, discusses his chance-based experiment Dice Thrown.