After Beth Morrison received her bachelor’s degree in music from Boston University and her bachelor’s degree in music from Arizona State University, she moved to New York City with great ambitions. What he encountered were like-minded creators who lamented the indifference of the entertainment industry, which he set out to remedy by earning an MFA in theater administration at the Yale School of Drama. Returning to New York in 2005, she founded Beth Morrison Productions and began to complain about the indifference of the industry.
Since then, the BMP has become a major national center for new opera, staging more than 50 productions, including Pulitzer Prize winners. Angel’s Bone by Du Yun and Royce Vavrek and prism by Ellen Reid and Roxie Perkins. Grammy nominee, BMP has four titles nominated for 2026, incl Praise again Trade / Mary Motorhead. Starting tomorrow, the company is celebrating its quarter anniversary with the 2026 Prototype Festival, which this year will feature six productions at locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. “I’ve been working on this change,” Morrison tells the Observer. “That’s why I got into what I’m doing in the first place, to create this new kind of opera. And I think we’ve done that. We have 15+ seasons in our history to show that, and inspire others.”
Fans will find inspiration in BMP: Concert of Songs and Festival (Jan. 7-8), a performance featuring your greatest hits, featuring 14 songs culled from the company’s storied history and sung by original artists. (If you can’t make the show, pick up the album, a double-disc vinyl set of 60 arias. It goes well with BMP Songbook Anthology(a 500-page coffee table book celebrating the company’s history.)
The rain puts on the boards Jan. 8-11, the story of a young woman’s struggle against the dramatic backdrop of the Western mountains. Jumping off a tall cliff, he awakens the mute in the wilderness, where he must fight to be heard. Set in Rima Fand result inspired by people, The rain includes sounds from nature, singers, string quintet, piano and mandolin.
Hildegard made its New York City debut on Jan. 9-11 and 14. This must-see opera by the incomparable composer Sarah Kirkland Snider is based on the 12th century German nun Hildegard of Bingen, mystic, seer, writer, composer, philosopher and physician. The world premiere in Los Angeles last November drew rave reviews from both parties. “I’m proud of him,” Morrison said at the time. “It’s been a total labor of love. He’s very fond of Hildegard, a historian, and he’s written a wonderful piece.”
If you can’t make it to Brooklyn, try Times Square on Jan. 11 to find out All Sing: Hwael-Rād (Whale-Road) and join the chorus of this world-first choral project that bridges the gap between humanity and our ocean-dwelling friends. “This goth-industrial music meets the classics,” is how Morrison described the world premiere of composer Jens Ibsen. “We will have the music on the website, anyone can download it and read it and come and sing with us.”
The New York premiere of the comedic post-rock opera What to Wear (Jan. 15-18) by Michael Gordon and the late avant-garde theater icon Richard Foreman pulls on the latest stage premiere. A collaboration between BMP, BAM and Bang on a Can, this acerbic commentary on social upheaval features a cameo by St. Vincent. “We’re already selling and we had to add operations. It’s going to be a very difficult ticket to get. It’s a big lift because it raises a lot of money in a short time to complete, and it’s a complex production,” Morrison said. “It’s crazy and amazing, it reminds me of it Einstein on the beach. It’s an amazing show, it will make people think.”
On Jan. 16-17, immerse yourself Art Bathan interdisciplinary sense that highlights women’s voices and music that spans genre and opera, theater, puppetry and visual arts. Another one not to be missed The Tiergarten on Jan. 16, Weimar cabaret in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Carroll Street. Directed by Andrew Ousley, it explores historical periods of social madness, featuring music by Handel, Verdi, Dean Martin, Max Richter, William Byrd, Brecht, Weill and songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the form of opera, classical, jazz, ballet and burlesque.
Over the years, BMP has expanded to 14 staff and launched its Next Gen program that encourages budding opera composers. In it, one is given a commission for an evening’s work and the world’s first production. BMP’s collaboration with LA Opera has resulted in 17 shows over 10 years. Prototype Festival has only been around for 15 years, relying heavily on the generosity of individual donors, including the Mellon Foundation, a major supporter whose deal with BMP expired in 2028—something that sent Morrison into a frenzy.
“If we don’t change it, what does that mean? What will this festival look like? It’s our challenge now. I’m a very dreamy person. I have a few big ideas that I’m working on right now to bring many partners together to do something bigger than us, to explore the possibilities,” he said, crying, as the loss of many of the 5 million NEA 7 arts grant 2 of the NEA, 7 of the 7 arts grants NEA 2, was decided last May.
“Many foundations have left the arts they held together or have changed their priorities in how they support the arts. And many donors who have supported non-profit arts for decades are aging out. Many are dying, and no one is coming to take their place,” he said. “It’s not easy, but it’s never been easy. It’s more difficult than ever. We’re announcing thirteen commissions over the next five years. It’s a big campaign for us. We’ve never done a campaign like this before, but it’s exciting. There’s a lot of amazing work being done here that people should be excited about. We’re in a conversation about what opera can be in the second century.”
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