On Sunday May 15 at 7:30 pm, join Q2 and host Olivia Giovetti for a live audio Webcast from (Le) Poisson Rouge of four new operas from a foxy quartet of composers, as part of the 2011 installment of New York City Opera's American opera lab, VOX. The show features works by Hannah Lash, Paola Prestini, Jeff Myers and Yoav Gal and includes on-stage interviews with the composers themselves.

Formed in 1999, VOX is a continuation of NYCO's dedication to fostering new works, and has given legs to some vibrant additions to the 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, including Mark Adamo's Little Women, David T. Little's Soldier Songs, Thomas Pasatieri's Frau Margot and Robert Aldridge's Elmer Gantry. Emerging and established composers alike get their due in these annual marathons of first listens, many of which lead to professional pickup: In over 70 operas excerpted, more than 30 have gone on to full performances. In fact, two former VOX workshops (John Zorn's La machine de l'etre and Stephen Schwartz's Seance on a Wet Afternoon) were produced by NYCO this spring.

VOX enters uncharted territory this season with (Le) Poisson Rouge, giving a space to the more intimate chamber operas on the menu this year. Tonight we'll hear composer-librettist Hannah Lash's Blood Rose (based on the Beauty and the Beast myth); Paola Prestini's De Deo--a curvilinear story about fate and faith with text by Donna Di Novelli; composer Jeff Myers and librettist Royce Vavrek's satanic love story Maren of Vardo; and a docu-opera by Yoav Gal, Reuven Namdar and filmmaker Mirit Tal, the Jerusalem-set Three Weeks.

VOX 2011 was engineered by Damon Whittemore with assistance from Marlan Barry.