Dog Days is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 by David T. Little

David T. Little

David T. Little is an American composer and drummer known for his orchestral and operatic works, including his theatrical cantata "Soldier Songs" which was included in New York City Opera's VOX Contemporary American Opera Lab in 2008...

, to a libretto by Royce Vavrek

Royce Vavrek

Royce Vavrek is a Canadian filmmaker, librettist, playwright and musical theatre writer known for the film From Sky and Soil, which was created as part of the Corus Young Filmmakers Initiative for broadcast on the W Network through a prize administered by the...

 after the short story by Judy Budnitz

Judy Budnitz

Judy Budnitz is an American author. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Budnitz attended Harvard University, was a fellow at Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and received an MFA in creative writing from New York University in 1998....

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Scenes from "Dog Days" premiered at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 on May 9, 2009 as part of the Dawn Upshaw

Dawn Upshaw

Dawn Upshaw is an American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary...

 and Osvaldo Golijov

Osvaldo Golijov

Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...

 Young Artists Concert. Three arias from the opera-in-progress were subsequently presented by American Opera Projects

American Opera Projects

American Opera Projects is a professional opera company based in New York City, NY and is a member of OPERA America, the Fort Greene Association, and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/ New York]] . The company's primary mission is to develop and present new works...

 at Galapagos Arts Space, including the world premiere of "Mirror, Mirror" performed by soprano Lauren Worsham

Lauren Worsham

Lauren Worsham is an American singer and actress. She appeared as Olive Ostrovsky in the National Tour of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, in New York City Opera's production of Candide, and most recently as Amy in the critically acclaimed staging of Where's Charley? at City Center's...

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Roles and role creators

• Mother, Mary Bonhag
• Father (Howard), Sung Eun Lee
• Lisa, Megan Taylor
• Eliott, Patrick Cook
• Pat, Tania Rodriguez

Synopsis

The opera follows an American family in the near future who slowly starve as war rages. One day, a man in a dog suit arrives on their property howling for scraps...