AMERICAN FORK — The first-ever "Opera in a Month" challenge has produced a fun array of family-friendly, minioperas that will be sung in English Aug. 16, in the Historic City Hall, 31 N. Church St., starting at 7:30 p.m.
Composers had to write a 10-30-minute opera based on "Aesop" in one month.
VocalWorks.org founder and composer M. Ryan Taylor, and local operatic singers Lynnette Owens and Brian Manternach judged the entries.
Erica Glenn, of Pleasant Grove, won against entries from as far away as Europe. Operas by Californians Jonathan Price and John G. Bilotta were also selected.
"The Dreamweaver" by Glenn is about a woman who doesn't believe that the stories her grandmother Posea tells the village children have any redeeming value.
"The Quantum Mechanic" by Bilotta tells the story of a lady trying to cook up a perfect cosmic souffle but her freezer just won't behave.
"The Lion and the Wood Nymph" by Price features wood nymphs who dance and sing only for their father until a song attracts an unlikely suitor for the young Corycia.
The operas are appropriate for all ages, but the event will be taped for online broadcast, and small children must be able to sit quietly.