Chicago Opera Theater (COT) announces a new opportunity for audiences to get a unique look inside the creative process this fall with a public piano/vocal workshop of Trusted, a new opera in development by composer Aaron Israel Levin and librettist Marella Martin Koch. The workshop, part of COT’s acclaimed Vanguard Initiative, will culminate in a public concert reading of the first draft of the opera. Immediately following the performance, the audience will be invited to participate in a Critical Response Process (CRP), a structured dialogue that invites questions, reflections, and feedback designed to help the writers refine and further develop their work. The public workshop of Trusted will take place at DePaul University’s Gannon Hall on Sunday, September 21 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $40 and are available now at chicagooperatheatre.org.
Founded in 2018, COT’s Vanguard Initiative is a two-year residency for composers ready to enter the world of opera. Participants are immersed in every aspect of the art form, from repertoire study and vocal writing to administration and production, culminating in a commissioned full-length opera. Trusted is the seventh new opera commissioned under the auspices of the program and will receive its concert world premiere by COT on May 30, 2026.
For the first time, COT will open the doors to one of the most important steps in the development of a new opera: the piano/vocal workshop. With singers and piano accompaniment, audiences will hear the opera come to life for the very first time.
“A key part of that process is workshopping—something most companies keep behind closed doors,’ explains COT’s Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson. “From the earliest libretto drafts to piano-vocal scores and finally the full orchestral score, hearing a work come to life off the page at every stage of development is both exhilarating and invaluable for the writers. Understandably, there is often a desire to keep this process private: the operas are still evolving, the artists are still experimenting, and early exposure can invite snap judgments that risk undermining a piece before it has the chance to reach its full potential. But keeping workshops closed off from the public creates its own problems. It limits the writers’ access to the very feedback and dialogue that can help them clarify their intentions. It reinforces the myth that operas emerge fully formed, when in reality they are the product of years of exploration, revision, and collaboration. And it deprives audiences of the chance to connect more deeply with the art form by witnessing how an opera grows and transforms. By carefully structuring how we bring the public into the process, we can preserve a safe space for artists while also enriching the work itself and the community around it.”
About Trusted
Set against the backdrop of a high-stakes financial scandal, Trusted is an intimate exploration of deception, betrayal, and the emotional toll of broken faith. When an accomplished financial advisor is exposed for orchestrating a decades-long fraud, the fallout extends far beyond his clients — it fractures the very foundation of his family. His two daughters struggle to reconcile the man they knew with the crimes he has committed. As the truth unravels, so do their own perceptions of loyalty, morality, and the fragile nature of trust itself. Through a dynamic score by COT’s Vanguard Composer in Residence Aaron Israel Levin, and a taut, contemporary libretto by Marella Martin Koch, the opera delves into the complexities of family bonds, the weight of inherited legacies, and the search for redemption in a world where trust—once lost—may never be regained.
The Piano/Vocal workshop and concert of Trusted will be conducted by former COT Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya with Paula Gelpi at the piano. The cast for both the September workshop and the May 2026 concert premiere features sopranos Tracy Cantin and Meghan Kasanders, mezzo-soprano Quinn Middleman, and bass-baritone Kyle Albertson.
The Critical Response Process
Following the performance, audiences will be invited to engage directly with the artists through the Critical Response Process (CRP), a structured method for feedback pioneered by choreographer Liz Lerman. CRP creates a respectful, artist-centered framework for dialogue that prioritizes the creators’ goals while inviting thoughtful audience engagement.
Edelson has used the CRP extensively in the development of new works at American Lyric Theater—including The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing and She Who Dared, both of which received their critically acclaimed world premieres at COT. He now brings this powerful approach to his work developing new works in Chicago. Edelson is nationally recognized as a leading facilitator of the CRP. Because of the success he has had applying the CRP to the development of new operas, he was invited to contribute a chapter to Liz Lerman’s recent book Critique Is Creative: The Critical Response Process in Theory and Action, which explores how the Process has been embraced across disciplines to foster deeper and more meaningful dialogue between artists and audiences.
About Chicago Opera Theater
Chicago Opera Theater’s mission is to enrich the lives of those who live, work and play in Chicago by bringing rarely produced and contemporary operas to life, supporting gifted emerging artists, and providing hands-on experiences with opera that entertain, empower creativity, and cultivate a lasting and meaningful connection to the arts. Guided by our core values, COT serves Chicago through unique, relevant, and innovative opera experiences that reflect the aspirations of our city — dynamic, inclusive, and forward-thinking — fostering inspiration, dialogue and belonging. Since its founding in 1973, COT has grown from a grassroots community-based company to a national leader in an increasingly vibrant, diverse, and forward-looking art form. COT has staged over 160 operas, including over 90 Chicago premieres and 50 operas by American composers. COT is led by Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson who was appointed in 2023.
Chicago Opera Theater’s 2025/26 season continues with Discovery Concert: Shakespeare Sings October 19 – a concert of arias and scenes from operas inspired by the works of William Shakespeare in advance of Salieri’s Falstaff; Falstaff, ossia Le tre burle December 3-7– the Chicago premiere of Antonio Salieri’s classical comedy commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the composer’s death in 1825; Discovery Concert: In America’s Embrace January 18 – a concert of arias and scenes from operas by composers who immigrated to America in advance of Weill’s Der Silbersee; Der Silbersee: A Winter’s Fairy Tale March 4-8, 2026 – the Chicago premiere of Kurt Weill’s politically daring, genre defying masterpiece; and the concert world premiere of Trusted May 30, 2026 – the seventh opera commissioned and developed under the auspices of the Vanguard Initiative.
For more information on Chicago Opera Theater productions, visit chicagooperatheater.org/