Form 990-EZ for tax year 2022

Totals

Total revenue

$145,824

Total expenses

$112,140

Contributions and grants received

$108,613

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$37,211

Membership dues (line 3)

$0

Investment income (line 4)

$0

Gain or loss on sale of assets (line 5c)

$0

Gaming and fundraising events, net (line 6d)

$0

Gross profit on inventory sales (line 7c)

$0

Other revenue (line 8)

$0

Total assets, end of year

$11,976

Total liabilities, end of year

$0

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$11,976

Program service expenses (Part III)

$75,369

Program services were 67.2% of total expenses calculated — Part III's total program service expenses over total expenses, both as filed.

Mission and programs · 2022

• There is no more significant marker of our thriving work and community than the recently released television opera, Everything for Dawn, which Opera News raved "stretches the boundaries of genre and storytelling to recalibrate opera for the twenty-first century." This ten-part work was the first major project of our Experiments in Opera Writers' Room, an innovative venture meant to create a more inclusive community of opera makers. This diverse group of 6 librettists and 10 composers worked together to shape the narrative and characters of this moving story about art, loss, family and mental health. The finished product, with each episode written by a different composer/librettist combo, was released in October 2022 on New York-based streaming service All Arts. The series has also been acquired by Washington, DC-based In Series and by Opera Philadelphia for streaming on their own channels. Our estimate is that, in its first year of streaming, Everything for Dawn will have been viewed by more than 12,000 audience members around all 50 states in the U.S. and Canada. We celebrated the launch of Everything for Dawn with a screening of the complete film at Anthology Film Archives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with an audience of 112.

  Expenses $39,983

• Starting in September 2022, we launched the latest and third iteration of the EiO Writers' Room with five librettists under the direction of EiO Artistic Director Jason Cady with support from EiO Managing Director Shannon Sindelar. The librettists who were selected from a national call for proposals were Joanie Brittingham, Britt Hewitt, Marcella Murray and Melissa Tien. Over the next four months, Jason led this group through the development of five new librettos (including one by Jason) that will make up the new opera Five Ways to Die. Meeting weekly, these artists shared their story ideas, and read and workshopped each other's sketches and scripts. In this supportive environment, even the three writers working on their first libretto were set up for success. Once the librettos were complete, Artistic Advisor Kamala Sankaram joined the leadership team to support the selection of five composers from a national call for scores. Composers Anthony Gatto, Jesse Gelaznik, Song Ae Kim and Del'Shawn Taylor were chosen and each paired with one librettist to start work on writing the music for the new operas in Five Ways to Die. We convened a workshop rehearsal for each of the operas, with music director Dmitry Glivinskiy and six singers to read through all of the new music. The singers selected for the workshop from open auditions were Alize Rozsnyai, Kannan Vasudevan, Lisa Neher, Seth Gilman, Abigail Raiford, and Melisa Bonetti. This workshop took place at the A.R.T. New York South Oxford Space in Brooklyn on Friday May 26, 2023 and culminated in run-throughs of each piece. Five Ways to Die will premiere in Spring 2024 as part of our 2023-2024 season.

  Expenses $12,005

• From June 15-17, 2023, Experiments in Opera premiered a production of Anthony Braxton Theater Improvisations at The Brick Theater in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This production was conceived as a way of engaging with the complex system of notation and philosophy embedded in the work of MacArthur Genius Anthony Braxton. We worked closely with director/performer Rob Reese, vocalist and EiO Artistic Advisor Kamala Sankaram as well as instrumentalists Nate Wooley, James Fei and Ingrid Laubrock, to create a unified approach to Braxton's Compositions No. 279-282. The production ended up being a sold-out run for 173 audience members and received a rave review in the New York Times who praised us as "Hilarious, Delightful and Delirious." Our big risk paid off and we are looking for further opportunities to share this production in the upcoming seasons both in other parts of the United States and the world.

  Expenses $17,194

• This past year, EiO welcomed the artist Alexa Dexa as a resident artist as part of a two-year grant from Creatives Rebuild New York. Alexa set up and facilitated a wide range of activities that are specifically focused on engaging with Deaf and Disabled audience members, especially those who are still isolating because of the COVID-19 pandemic or for whom in-person performances may not be accessible. Here is Alexa's note about their work this year: "Every time I meet with my Disabled community online, the mutual gratitude is so life-affirming. Again and again I am nourished by the generosity and wisdom that surfaces as we hold space for practices of co-creation that honor the value we each have to share with ourselves and with each other." As part of their work this year, Alexa facilitated 16 one-on-one Zoom sessions of their electroacoustic toy opera, Bewitch Yourself. Alexa also facilitated a three-part workshop series called Creating Access that focused on Disability Justice & Accessibility Basics, Making Our Social Media More Accessible, and Reimagining Our Projects & Gatherings Towards Radical Inclusivity. These workshops were attended by 73 community members. Lastly, Alexa facilitated an eight-part online series for 45 community members called Shaping Sound Worlds. These workshops were geared towards nonmusicians and musicians alike and explored techniques and approaches for creating music and sound using online creative tools.

  Expenses $6,187

As filed on the 2022 return.

Listed in Part IV

Compensation is as filed in Part IV of the Form 990-EZ: compensation, contributions to benefit plans, expense account, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990_ez

Tax year

2022

Filed

22 September 2023

IRS schema version

2022v5.0

Source object

202302769349201400

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