MISSION & VALUES
OUR MISSION The Jupiter Opera Development Foundation exists to solicit, develop, and promote original works of musical theater and opera that increase the accuracy, quality, and quantity of onstage representation of queer and gender-nonconforming characters and to significantly widen the breadth of repertoire available to queer and gender-nonconforming performers. OUR CAUSE Opera and music theater thrive because of the creative efforts of queer and transgender/gender-nonconforming artists, writers, composers, musicians, designers, directors, and technical professionals. However, queer stories are not central or even mentioned in most mainstream offerings of musical theater and opera. With audiences that lean queerer-than-most, these stage presentations often leave ticket-buyers as misrepresented and dissatisfied as they do those working onstage and backstage. Onstage stories that do feature queer narratives can be reductive and repetitive, and onstage portrayals of trans/GNC characters often rely on transphobic understandings of gender and the experience of transitioning or finding one’s true self. While breaking away from what the industry considers “marketable” queer stories in such tropes, the Jupiter Opera Development Foundation aims to employ and uplift creative professionals to tell our own stories in our own voices. We wholly trust audiences of all backgrounds to relish true stories told well by those who have lived them. Moreover, acknowledging that live performance opportunities grow more expensive by the year, we are committed to creating projects that can comfortably be produced in academic and regional environments, where resources may be more hard-won than at the nation’s most celebrated venues.
OUR VALUES 1. Any good story well-told is suitable for general audiences. The quality of the telling is a greater indicator of future success than the subject matter. So we are unashamedly telling the best stories we can about queer, transgender, nonbinary, and intersex characters, knowing that we can attract straight and cisgender audience members without difficulty or voyeuristic resorts. 2. Creating opera is, due to the extreme expense of production, not a right but a privilege which is earned through study and experience. We can tell you’ve paid your dues as a creator when: - Words and music are written to suit the voice. Opera creators should understand the human instrument and cater to it above all other considerations. Without amazing-sounding voices, you don’t have an amazing show. - Creators have a broad and somewhat intimate understanding of technical theater. You can’t be safe (the minimum requirement of any show) if you don’t know where the danger lies, and you can’t create an easily producible work if you don’t know the major expenses, provisos, or norms of technical theater. 3. Composers and librettists are equal and complementary. The librettist is the brain of a show; the composer is its heart; neither holds sole authority. In opera, this is not the norm; at Jupiter, we treat all creators with authorship-level respect. 4. Performers, especially as originators of new roles, are crucial stakeholders that have a lasting impact on the shape and success of a show. We treat them as collaborators from an early stage whenever possible, and we don’t demand of them the impossible, unsafe, exhausting, or ridiculous. 5. The world works better when we are able to integrate with peace, respect, and good faith. Jupiter values diversity and is always seeking to increase representation, performance, and creation opportunities for people of color, people with disabilities, and others belonging to marginalized groups. 6. Vita brevis, ars longa. Jupiter prizes slow growth, long-term relationships, and earned trust. We are deliberate in building and maintaining professional relationships, and we take our time in making the best possible decisions. We would rather do the right thing than the easy thing every time, because we want our creations to endure.
OUR ACTIONS Current and ongoing Jupiter Opera Development Foundation projects include full-length and chamber-length pieces created in collaboration with LGBTQ+ and allied composers, performers, and other theater professionals. In each project, our consistent goals include: 1. Narratives that center queer characters beyond coming-out stories and dead-end tragedies. 2. Performance opportunities for trans voices and cross-fach characters. (Jupiter is in a war with the fach system, generally speaking, as the needs of GNC singers are difficult to meet without a critical look at said system.) 3. Productions that are accessible and affordable for institutions of all sizes. Current methods applied during the writing phase to achieve this goal include: 1. Ensuring that cast and accompaniment requirements are lean and flexible 2. Structuring narratives around unit sets, found sites, and generally keeping construction costs minimal or nonexistent In addition to creating new and adapted works, we are building a community of artist-members and institutional members to increase collaboration, promotion, and access to funding for an international network of LGBTQ+ creative colleagues.
OUR MISSION The Jupiter Opera Development Foundation exists to solicit, develop, and promote original works of musical theater and opera that increase the accuracy, quality, and quantity of onstage representation of queer and gender-nonconforming characters and to significantly widen the breadth of repertoire available to queer and gender-nonconforming performers. OUR CAUSE Opera and music theater thrive because of the creative efforts of queer and transgender/gender-nonconforming artists, writers, composers, musicians, designers, directors, and technical professionals. However, queer stories are not central or even mentioned in most mainstream offerings of musical theater and opera. With audiences that lean queerer-than-most, these stage presentations often leave ticket-buyers as misrepresented and dissatisfied as they do those working onstage and backstage. Onstage stories that do feature queer narratives can be reductive and repetitive, and onstage portrayals of trans/GNC characters often rely on transphobic understandings of gender and the experience of transitioning or finding one’s true self. While breaking away from what the industry considers “marketable” queer stories in such tropes, the Jupiter Opera Development Foundation aims to employ and uplift creative professionals to tell our own stories in our own voices. We wholly trust audiences of all backgrounds to relish true stories told well by those who have lived them. Moreover, acknowledging that live performance opportunities grow more expensive by the year, we are committed to creating projects that can comfortably be produced in academic and regional environments, where resources may be more hard-won than at the nation’s most celebrated venues.
OUR VALUES 1. Any good story well-told is suitable for general audiences. The quality of the telling is a greater indicator of future success than the subject matter. So we are unashamedly telling the best stories we can about queer, transgender, nonbinary, and intersex characters, knowing that we can attract straight and cisgender audience members without difficulty or voyeuristic resorts. 2. Creating opera is, due to the extreme expense of production, not a right but a privilege which is earned through study and experience. We can tell you’ve paid your dues as a creator when: - Words and music are written to suit the voice. Opera creators should understand the human instrument and cater to it above all other considerations. Without amazing-sounding voices, you don’t have an amazing show. - Creators have a broad and somewhat intimate understanding of technical theater. You can’t be safe (the minimum requirement of any show) if you don’t know where the danger lies, and you can’t create an easily producible work if you don’t know the major expenses, provisos, or norms of technical theater. 3. Composers and librettists are equal and complementary. The librettist is the brain of a show; the composer is its heart; neither holds sole authority. In opera, this is not the norm; at Jupiter, we treat all creators with authorship-level respect. 4. Performers, especially as originators of new roles, are crucial stakeholders that have a lasting impact on the shape and success of a show. We treat them as collaborators from an early stage whenever possible, and we don’t demand of them the impossible, unsafe, exhausting, or ridiculous. The world works better when we are able to integrate with peace, respect, and good faith. Jupiter values diversity and is always seeking to increase representation, performance, and creation opportunities for people of color, people with disabilities, and others belonging to marginalized groups. 5. Vita brevis, ars longa. Jupiter prizes slow growth, long-term relationships, and earned trust. We are deliberate in building and maintaining professional relationships, and we take our time in making the best possible decisions. We would rather do the right thing than the easy thing every time, because we want our creations to endure.
OUR ACTIONS Current and ongoing Jupiter Opera Development Foundation projects include full-length and chamber-length pieces created in collaboration with LGBTQ+ and allied composers, performers, and other theater professionals. In each project, our consistent goals include: 1. Narratives that center queer characters beyond coming-out stories and dead-end tragedies. 2. Performance opportunities for trans voices and cross-fach characters. (Jupiter is in a war with the fach system, generally speaking, as the needs of GNC singers are difficult to meet without a critical look at said system.) 3. Productions that are accessible and affordable for institutions of all sizes. Current methods applied during the writing phase to achieve this goal include: 1. Ensuring that cast and accompaniment requirements are lean and flexible 2. Structuring narratives around unit sets, found sites, and generally keeping construction costs minimal or nonexistent In addition to creating new and adapted works, we are building a community of artist-members and institutional members to increase collaboration, promotion, and access to funding for an international network of LGBTQ+ creative colleagues.
