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As educators and composers, Little and Sankaram are both deeply committed to their students, find that teaching makes them better composers
As educators and composers, Little and Sankaram are both deeply committed to their students, find that teaching makes them better composers

David T. Little and Kamala Sankaram, Mannes School of Music Faculty Members, Collaborate with Mannes Opera for Special Concert

Composers and Mannes School of Music faculty members David T. Little and Kamala Sankaram have received critical acclaim for their work over the years, which has been performed in the most exciting and prestigious musical venues around the world.

Now, the Mannes Opera will present one opera from each of the celebrated composers in a concert on November 8th and 9th in the Tishman Auditorium at The New School. Directed by Alison Pogolrec, Drama ‘20, the Mannes Opera will perform the New York premiere of Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera, composed by Little with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, and The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace, composed by Sankaram with a libretto by Rob Handel.

Both Little and Sankaram are thrilled to be collaborating with Mannes students for the concert, as Little notes that “It’s wonderful to be able to engage with this community not as the usual teachers and students, but as fellow artists.”

“Mannes is a very forward-thinking program in that the students are encouraged to learn contemporary repertoire,” shares Sankaram. “There are not so many vocal conservatories that do this, despite the fact that learning newer rep opens up another avenue to sing regularly. The fact that David and I are both in the composition department strengthens the relationships between the departments, rather than keeping us siloed, which is the model in many other schools.”

Vinkensport began thanks to an opportunity with students at Bard Conservatory in 2010, and saw Little collaborate with Vavrek across countries, with the intention of making a comedic piece. The opera is a bitter-sweet comedy in one act, which explores obsession, desire, and the need to prevail, through the frame of an obscure Flemish folk sport, “finch-sitting.” Trained finches race to sing the most “susk-e-wiets” over the course of an hour. As they compete, the joys, sorrows, delusions and all-too-stark realities of their trainers are revealed.

“I’m deeply invested in storytelling, and in trying to explore the human condition through my work,” explains Little. “I like how the real story reveals itself gradually. We start out thinking the opera is about one thing, but then it reveals itself to be about something much different. It’s also got some fun Easter eggs for opera nerds — so opera nerds, keep an ear out!”

The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace follows Ada, Countess of Lovelace and Lord Byron’s daughter, who has been asked to help Charles Babbage with his work on the Difference Engine. She struggles between her work in mathematics and upholding her reputation as a wife, mother, and public figure. The revolutionary concepts that she put forth in her notes about the potential ability of the Engine to carry out an algorithm led Ada to be considered the world’s first computer programmer. 

“Rob and I are both very interested in the history of technology and have made a few pieces that deal with how technology impacts culture (including one where we data-mined the audience,)” says Sankaram. “This piece began while we were in the Composer Librettist Development Program at American Lyric Theater. We were tasked with writing a 20-minute opera based on a structure provided by Mark Adamo. A few years later, Opera Ithaca asked if we would expand the piece, and Rob took the opportunity to dive more deeply into the themes of reputation and opportunities for women, adding the character of Harriet Beecher Stowe.”

As faculty members at Mannes, Little and Sankaram are both deeply committed to their students, and invested in their successes. They also find that teaching makes them better composers, and is a vital part of their artistic practice.

“I think teaching composition makes you a better composer, because you’re forced daily to not only confront your own artistic challenges and their artistic and technical solutions, but to also help your students navigate theirs,” shares Little. “It’s a deeply enriching experience.”

“As an educator, I’m most interested in helping students realize the best versions of their own work,” explains Sankaram. “I look at writing for opera in a similar way– how can you create the scaffold for a performer to make their own choices?”

The College of Performing Arts has had a busy Fall, and will continue to present bold work during the rest of the semester. Next up, the JACK Quartet, Mannes Quartet-in-Residence, will perform their Modern Medieval program, which explores the connections of musicality and thought between European composers of the past and the voices of music today. Later in November, the Coltrane Ensemble, directed by Reggie Workman, will perform significant Coltrane compositions as vehicles towards understanding why and how the music of John Coltrane, an icon of Jazz whose breadth of creation spans modern music from traditional to futuristic and beyond, pioneered concepts of harmonization.

Little and Sankaram are both at work on new pieces as well, which will debut throughout the next year. Little recently premiered his opera What Belongs to You in Richmond, and saw his opera Black Lodge receive its West Coast debut in mid-October. He also recently wrote a new score for an immersive theater experience, and a short film he scored, Beside Myself, premieres in November. He is currently developing an opera through the Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater new works program.

A revised version of Sankaram’s family opera Jungle Book, with a libretto by Kelley Rourke, will premiere at the Washington National Opera in December, while next summer, Custom of the Coast, with a libretto by Paul Muldoon, will premiere at the Kilkenny Festival. She is also at work on adaptations of The House of Yes for Wolf Trap Opera and The Many Deaths of Laila Starr for the Minnesota Opera.

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