"It is difficult to overstate the importance of the Center for Contemporary Opera. The Center has single-handedly produced more 20th-century operas since its founding than the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera combined."

A television production of The Bald Soprano, which won a national Telly Award, is available on video from the Cinema Guild. By Martin Kalmanoff. Based on the play by Eugène Ionesco. First Performance with Orchestra.

is a new producing collaborative of opera and music-theatre companies comprised of American Opera Projects, Center for Contemporary Opera, Encompass New Opera Theatre and Music-Theatre Group. It was formed to develop an American repertory of opera and music-theatre works, to disseminate these works nationally and internationally, and to build a diverse audience base encompassing all ages and ethnic groups.

Goals include an annual season of readings and performances of new opera and music-theatre works; a series of public conversations with artists who create, interpret, and perform these works; and preservation of the legacy of existing American works through audio and video recordings.