About – David T. Little

Short Bio

(535 words)

A natural musical storyteller with “a knack for overturning musical conventions” (The New York Times), composer David T. Little is known for stage, concert, and screen works permeated with the power of the unexpected. Little probes the deep corners of human psychology, invoking political, historical, spiritual, and social themes as pathways for exploring the human condition. His broad catalog speaks to the mix of light and dark that we experience in life, unafraid to invoke the mythical, bewitching, disturbing, surreal, or comedic. He has drawn acclaim for operas including Dog Days, JFK, and the comedy Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera (all with libretto by Royce Vavrek), as well as his GRAMMY®-nominated opera Soldier Songs.

Little’s recent work Black Lodge was nominated for the 2024 GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording and is the recent recipient of a Music Theater Now international prize. Black Lodge, a metal-infused opera with a libretto by poet Anne Waldman, was premiered by Beth Morrison Projects at Opera Philadelphia, with a soundtrack released by Cantaloupe Music. It received its European premiere at the O. Festival in Rotterdam this past May, will receive its West Coast Premiere in October, 2024 as part of an experiential Halloween event presented by CAP UCLA, and will receive its New York premiere in January as part of the 2025 Prototype Festival.

In September, 2024, Little will unveil his opera What Belongs to You, based on the celebrated novel by Garth Greenwell, developed for GRAMMY®-winning tenor Karim Sulayman and Alarm Will Sound, and directed by Mark Morris. This comes on the heels of another major work, the searching theatrical choral work, SIN-EATER, premiered in Philadelphia by The Crossing and Bergamot Quartet in the fall of 2023, conducted by Donald Nally. Based on the ancient practice of paying the poor to ritualistically “eat” the sins of the rich—allowing the privileged to move onto the next life cleansed of their guilty deeds—The Wall Street Journal praised the work’s “shattering impact.”

Little is at work on a commission from the Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program, as well as several other new stage, film, and concert projects.

Little has been commissioned by the world’s most prestigious institutions and performers, including recent projects for The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater new works program, the Kennedy Center, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, London Sinfonietta, The Crossing, Kronos Quartet, and Beth Morrison Projects. His music has been presented by Carnegie Hall, Holland Festival, LA Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Opéra de Montréal, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the LA Philharmonic. Little’s recorded catalog includes over 20 commercial releases, on such labels as New Amsterdam Records, Pentatone, Sono Luminus, Bright Shiny Things, and Cantaloupe Music.

Little is the founding artistic director and former drummer for the amplified chamber ensemble, Newspeak, which explores the relationship of music and politics, while confronting head-on the boundaries between the classical and rock traditions. They have released four commercial recordings, with a fifth on the way.

David T. Little received a 2023 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and is a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. His music is published by Boosey & Hawkes. Learn more at www.davidtlittle.com.

Updated September 2024.
For alternate versions, please contact Katy Salomon, VP Public Relations at katy@primoartists.com.
This biography can be reproduced free of charge in concert programs with the following credit:
Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes.

Medium Bio

(810 Words)

A natural musical storyteller with “a knack for overturning musical conventions” (The New York Times), composer David T. Little is known for stage, concert, and screen works permeated with eclectic influences and the power of the unexpected. Little readily probes the deep corners of human psychology, invoking religious, political, historical, spiritual, and social themes as pathways for exploring the human condition. He has drawn acclaim for operas including Dog Days, JFK, and the comedy Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera (all with libretto by Royce Vavrek), as well as his opera Soldier Songs. His broad catalog speaks to the mix of light and dark that we experience in life, unafraid to invoke the mythical, bewitching, disturbing, surreal, or comedic. His work Black Lodge was nominated for Best Opera Recording in the 2024 GRAMMY® Awards.

In 2024, Little will unveil his monodrama What Belongs to You, based on the celebrated novel by Garth Greenwell and developed for GRAMMY®-winning tenor Karim Sulayman and Alarm Will Sound and directed by Mark Morris. This comes on the heels of another major work, the searching theatrical choral work, SIN-EATER, premiered in Philadelphia by The Crossing and Bergamot Quartet in the fall of 2023, conducted by Donald Nally. Based on the ancient practice of paying the poor to ritualistically “eat” the sins of the rich—allowing the privileged to move onto the next life cleansed of their guilty deeds—The Wall Street Journal praised the work’s “shattering impact.”

Little’s Black Lodge, nominated for Best Opera Recording in the 2024 GRAMMY® Awards, is a metal-infused film opera drawing on the complex mythologies of William S. Burroughs, Antonin Artaud, and David Lynch, with a libretto by celebrated poet Anne Waldman and performances by Timur and the Dime Museum and Isaura String Quartet. Black Lodge premiered by Beth Morrison Projects at Opera Philadelphia, and the soundtrack was released by Cantaloupe Music.

Among his other key compositions are several large scale instrumental works, including the “ghost play” Haunt of Last Nightfall for percussion quartet, and AGENCY, a companion string quartet about the nature of choice and knowledge, in which “episodes of crushing sonic violence coexist with oases of serene lyrical beauty for an overall sense of smoldering, luxuriant noise” (The New York Times). Yet other works explore life’s many highs: the ecstatic, almost manic energy of Spalding Gray, the Iggy Pop-inspired “joyous honk” of raw power, the wry humor of Speak Softly, the fond nostalgia of 1986, or the moonstruck aches of first love in JFK and What Belongs to You.

Little set the tone for his operatic work with the 2006 premiere of Soldier Songs, drawing praise for “the imaginative way he draws on his varied musical interests to produce arresting and coherent works” (Musical America). Based on extensive interviews with military veterans, the work has been performed by Los Angeles Opera, Atlanta Opera, San Diego Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and by Beth Morrison Projects at the Holland Festival, among others. A film adaptation of Soldier Songs was later produced for the Opera Philadelphia Channel, earning a 2022 GRAMMY® Award nomination, a 2022 Opera America Award, and a nomination from the International Opera Awards.

Little’s many compositions for solo performer or small ensemble often include ghostly or spiritual themes. Ghostlight, commissioned for Eighth Blackbird by The Kennedy Center, looks to surrealist art and fairy tales for their unspoken lessons, while dress in magic amulets, dark, from My feet is a meditation on Christ on the cross commissioned by The Crossing and International Contemporary Ensemble. Still other works draw from literary sources or history, such as The Crocus Palimpsest, a Samuel Beckett-inspired work for solo cello composed for Matt Haimovitz. The same is true for Little’s works for orchestra and large ensemble, including The Conjured Life, a centennial tribute to Lou Harrison, and CHARM, a celebration of city life commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

David T. Little is a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. His music is published by Boosey & Hawkes. Learn more at www.davidtlittle.com.

Full Bio

(1691 Words)

A natural musical storyteller with “a knack for overturning musical conventions” (The New York Times), GRAMMY® Award-nominee David T. Little is a composer known for stage, concert, and screen works permeated with eclectic influences and the power of the unexpected. Commenting on his ability to infuse classical works with pop and rock influences, The New Yorker declared Little “not a ‘post-classical’ composer, but a classical composer with a surprisingly broad range.” Little readily probes the deep corners of psychology, invoking political, historical, spiritual, and social themes as pathways to explore the human condition. He has drawn acclaim for operas full of “emotional insight and charm,” (The New York Times), including Dog Days, JFK, and the comedy Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera (all with libretto by Royce Vavrek), as well as his “extraordinarily powerful” (Los Angeles Times) opera Soldier Songs.

In 2024, Little’s new work Black Lodge was nominated for Best Opera Recording at the 66th Annual GRAMMY® Awards. The metal-infused opera film draws on the complex mythologies of David Lynch, William S. Burroughs, and Antonin Artaud. Featuring a libretto by celebrated poet Anne Waldman and performances by Timur and the Dime Museum and Isaura String Quartet, Black Lodge was recorded remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its premiere at Opera Philadelphia as a hybrid production by Beth Morrison Projects, and its subsequent soundtrack release on Cantaloupe Music, drew critical acclaim. The New York Times lauded Black Lodge’s “indefatigable goth aplomb” while Neue Musikzeitung proclaims “Little’s music sets the nightmare to music with virtuosity: it is always thrilling and always disturbing.”

Among his other key compositions are several large scale instrumental works, including the “ghost play” Haunt of Last Nightfall for percussion quartet, and the string quartet AGENCY, companion works in which “episodes of crushing sonic violence coexist with oases of serene lyrical beauty for an overall sense of smoldering, luxuriant noise” (The New York Times). Yet other works explore life’s many highs: the ecstatic, almost manic energy of Spalding Gray, the Iggy Pop-inspired “joyous honk” of raw power, the wry humor of Speak Softly, the fond nostalgia of 1986, or the moonstruck aches of first love in JFK and What Belongs to You. His broad catalog speaks to the mix of light and dark that we experience in life, with works that are unafraid to invoke the mythical, bewitching, disturbing, surreal, or comedic.

In September 2024, Little unveils his newest opera What Belongs to You, based on Garth Greenwell’s critically acclaimed debut novel, at the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Richmond (VA). Developed for GRAMMY®-winning tenor Karim Sulayman and Alarm Will Sound, the 20-piece ensemble is led by Alan Pierson with stage direction provided by renowned dancer, choreographer, and director Mark Morris, praised as “undeviating in his devotion to music” (The New Yorker). Little, who is composer and librettist for the piece, takes up Greenwell’s text as the starting point for an opera in his own inimitable style, approaching What Belongs to You as a chance to reflect an evolution in his compositional energy and a turning inward, looking back to look forward; leaning away from the rock bombast of Black Lodge, toward something more introspective, informed more by Monteverdi than Metallica.

This comes on the heels of another major work, the searching theatrical choral work, SIN-EATER, premiered in Philadelphia by The Crossing and Bergamot Quartet in the fall of 2023, conducted by Donald Nally. Co-commissioned by The Crossing and Penn Live Arts, SIN-EATER is based on the ancient practice of paying the poor to ritualistically “eat” the sins of the rich – allowing the privileged to move onto the next life cleansed of their guilty deeds. Of the premiere, The Wall Street Journal said that “The theatricality of Mr. Little’s music, coupled with his original and adapted text, is so intense that it hardly needed the visual cues to have a shattering impact.” Plans are currently underway for a European tour of the work in 2026, featuring the Ragazze Quartet, conducted by Maria van Nieukerken, and directed by Jorinde Keesmaat..

Little’s many compositions for solo performer or small ensemble often include ghostly or spiritual themes: The “gloriously thunderous” (The Washington Post) Hellhound, composed for Maya Beiser, reflects on the legend of bluesman Robert Johnson selling his soul at the Crossroads. Ghostlight, commissioned for Eighth Blackbird by The Kennedy Center, looks to surrealist art and fairy tales for their unspoken lessons, while dress in magic amulets, dark, from My feet is a meditation on Christ on the cross commissioned by The Crossing and International Contemporary Ensemble. The solo piano suite Accumulation of Purpose draws inspiration from the activism of the Freedom Riders, while the earthen lack, a solo cello work commissioned by the London Sinfonietta and Bowling Green State University, looks to antiquity for lessons about mortality.

Little’s works for orchestra and large ensemble likewise interrogate the ways that we engage or grapple with the world in which we live: The Conjured Life, a centennial tribute to maverick composer Lou Harrison; CHARM, a celebration of city life commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Haunted Topography and RADIANT CHiLD, which collectively explore the emotional landscapes of parenthood; and AM I BORN, a meditation on the ghosts of history, recorded by The Choir of Trinity Wall Street and recognized by Opera News as one of the best recordings of 2022.

Little’s recorded catalog includes over 20 commercial releases from ensembles such as The Crossing, International Contemporary Ensemble, Newspeak, Third Coast Percussion, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Novus NY, Isaura String Quartet, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), and Timur & the Dime Museum; soloists Maya Beiser, Matt Haimovitz, James Johnston, Bruce Levingston, Nick Photinos and Todd Reynolds, and singers James Bobick, Marnie Breckenridge, Cherry Duke, Blythe Gaissert, Eve Gigliotti, Mellissa Hughes, Michael Marcotte, David Adam Moore, Bec Plexus, Peter Tansits, and Lauren Worsham. These recordings have been released on such labels as New Amsterdam Records, Pentatone, Sono Luminus, Bright Shiny Things, and Cantaloupe Music.

Little is the founding artistic director and former drummer of the amplified chamber ensemble, Newspeak. Hailed as “potent” (Alex Ross), “innovative” (New York Magazine), and “fierce” (Time Out New York), Newspeak explores the relationship of music and politics, while confronting head-on the boundaries between the classical and rock traditions. Newspeak released its first CD of commissioned works in November 2010, to critical acclaim. “You could call this punk classical,” Lucid Culture proclaimed, noting that the disc is “fearlessly aware, insightfully political (and) resolutely defiant.” The Washington Post wrote of their 2013 Washington DC performance, “Newspeak pretty much rules.” Newspeak founded the New Music Bake Sale, which fostered contemporary classical community annually in Brooklyn from 2009-2016. They have been featured at the Park Avenue Armory, on the Ecstatic Music Festival, on the 25th anniversary Bang on a Can Marathon and made their international debut at the 2014 Holland Festival. They have released four commercial recordings, with a fifth on the way.

Among Little’s many commissions are recent and upcoming works for The Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop, London Sinfonietta, Kronos Quartet, The Crossing, Matt Haimovitz, Beth Morrison Projects, Alarm Will Sound, Opéra de Montréal, Fort Worth Opera, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Third Coast Percussion, and Dawn Upshaw / Bard Conservatory. In addition, his music has been presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Park Avenue Armory, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Miller Theatre, Mostly Mozart Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, PROTOTYPE Festival, Armitage Gone! Dance, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Singapore International Festival of Arts, the Oregon Bach Festival, and the Tanglewood, Aspen, MATA, Bang on a Can, and Cabrillo Festivals. Productions of his operas have been staged by North American companies in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Montréal, San Diego, Atlanta, Austin, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Des Moines, and Fargo, as well as European companies in Amsterdam, Augsburg, Saarbrücken, Bielefeld, Braunschweig, and Schwerin.

Little has earned recognition from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Meet The Composer, the American Music Center, the Harvey Gaul Competition, Yaddo, BMI, and ASCAP, among others. He is a 2023 Individual Artist Fellow from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. He holds degrees from Susquehanna University (2001), The University of Michigan (2002), and Princeton University (PhD, 2011), where his research explored the intersection of music and politics. His book chapter “Seeking the Philosopher’s Stone: On the Alchemy of Time in Creative Dramaturgy” will be published by Routledge in September, 2024 as part of New Dramaturgies of Contemporary Opera: The Practitioners’ Perspectives, edited by Jingyi Zhang.

His primary teachers have included (in reverse chronological order) Paul Lansky, Steven Mackey, Osvaldo Golijov, William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, Patrick Long, and David Mattingly. Since 2015, Little has served on the composition faculty at Mannes-The New School in New York City, where he is currently program chair. He previously served as Executive Director of New York’s MATA Festival (2010-2012) and Director of Composition at Shenandoah Conservatory (2012-2015). He has served as Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia and Music-Theatre Group (2014-2017), Zürich’s Apples and Olives Festival (2016), and the Mizzou International Composers Festival (2020 and 2021). He held the 2016 William Bolcom Residency in Composition at the University of Michigan.

Little’s music is published by Boosey & Hawkes. Learn more at www.davidtlittle.com.

Photos