The Decameron opera coalition is the Future of Opera.

The Decameron Opera Coalition is a collaboration of unparalleled scope - nine independent opera companies representing local flavors and voices, leveraging the strength of shared creativity and resources, united to cultivate new opera. Together we reach across the country to reshape how opera is created and enjoyed, and what it can accomplish.

The founding members of the coalition are Resonance Works [Pittsburgh], Lyric Opera of the North [Duluth], UrbanArias [Washington DC], Bare Opera [NYC], Opera in the Heights [Houston], Chicago Fringe Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and An Opera Theatre [Minneapolis], along with composer and librettist Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi (The Last American Hammer).

The coalition members commission contemporary opera’s most vital and diverse creative voices to illuminate America’s indispensable indie opera scene, with a dedication to new sounds, unparalleled storytelling, and underrepresented voices. Independent opera companies are where new audiences are born, where seasoned opera appetites are fed, where new work is incubated, and where the craft is nurtured.

“The Decameron project does genuinely new things with opera, and has lessons to teach the industry that may well outlast the grim pandemic which spawned it.”
- Minneapolis Star Tribune

Now Streaming

DOC THE Halls

We’re back together again with a digital songbook to light up your winter nights. Hear and see the work of creators and performers from across the country as we explore the season - its holidays, its quirks, its beauty - in a collection of streaming world premiere songs for this festive time of year!

Beginning December 2, stream this hour-long holiday musical kaleidoscope on AÏRIS. DOC the Halls includes 8 songs commissioned by DOC company members, all framed by "A Christmas Carol (& Bob & Ted & Alice)" - comic look at a quartet of modern Dickensian carolers - by DOC Co-creators composer Peter Hilliard and librettist Matt Boresi.

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HEROES

The old statues have been pulled down. What new figures will take their place?
As we slowly emerge from a pandemic and an era of toxic politics, holding heightened perspectives on social justice, global citizenship, and environmental concerns - many of yesterday’s icons no longer serve us as we stride into the heart of the 21st century. HEROES contains seven world premiere opera short films presented in three episodes, all framed by original art songs by Hilliard and Boresi, with special guest Karen Slack.

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TALES FROM A SAFE DISTANCE

Ten friends last saw one another on a starlit rooftop in Florence.

Now, their only way to share a toast is via a video call from their pandemic lockdown locations. How to pass the time when no one has new developments to share? Make up stories! But will they inspire one another to overcome their COVID-era ennui? Tales from a Safe Distance is a 21st-century operatic adaptation of Boccaccio’s 14th-century novel The Decameron in an unprecedented co-creation, reimagining Boccaccio’s stories for our own pandemic times, each with a unique team of creators and artists.

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