Cincinnati Opera to Preview 'Claude & Marcel' on Nov. 19

Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music will present a public preview of "Claude & Marcel," a new opera by composer Alyssa Weinberg and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, on Nov. 19 at Cincinnati Music Hall's Wilks Studio. The 7:30 p.m. presentation forms part of the companies' Opera Fusion: New Works program.

The subject is a striking one. The opera tells the story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, romantic partners and artistic collaborators who formed one of the most daring creative partnerships of the early twentieth-century avant-garde. West Edge Opera commissioned the work.

Who is leading the workshop?

Director Elkhanah Pulitzer and conductor Jonathan Khuner will lead the Opera Fusion: New Works workshop. The program follows a consistent format:

• Workshops are cast with a combination of CCM students and professional artists
• They culminate in a public presentation of excerpts rather than a full staging

That structure gives audiences an early, partial look at a work still in development — and gives the creative team a chance to test material before a full production.

When will the full opera arrive?

"Claude & Marcel" is set to receive its world premiere at West Edge Opera in August 2027. That places the Cincinnati preview nearly two years ahead of the premiere, making the Nov. 19 event one of the first public opportunities to hear Weinberg and Fleischmann's score.

For Cincinnati audiences, the presentation continues the Opera Fusion: New Works partnership between Cincinnati Opera and CCM, a pipeline that has made the city a regular stopping point for operas en route to their premieres. For followers of new American opera, the Wilks Studio event offers an early signal of whether Cahun and Moore's story — a partnership the source material itself describes as one of the avant-garde's most daring — can translate to the operatic stage.