On June 28 at 3 pm, the 2026 Composer-Librettist Studio culminates in an informal recital where artists will share everything that has been written in the 16 days – all 25 pieces! Save the date and join us in the little recital hall of the UDC’s Music Department. Many alumni have called the experience “life-transforming.”

Crossover Artist, Company Member, and Dominican Republic songstress Melisa Bonetti blends different music genres, pairing operatic arias with jazz standards to express wild and deep emotions.

Company Member Daniel ‘Deacon’ Smith takes the lead to embark on a partnership with Howard University’s award winning student performers from a cabaret competition.

This cabaret will feature songs from Company Member Josh Cleveland’s adaptation of Fitzgerald’s novel with original music and lyrics inspired by 20’s jazz.

Prominent silent film musician Andrew Earle Simpson screens an exuberant 1928 French/German silent film, Saxophone Suzy, accompanied by a new live score plus new arrangements of Weimar inspired cabaret.

Company Member Cara Schaefer shares her wit, expressive voice, and enormously generous heart, especially for all creatures great & small whose stories are overlooked in the mainstream narrative.

Join us when our whole cabaret ensemble reassembles in a season finale and a preview of a new work based on Klaus Mann’s novel, Mephisto, about making art in a growing Fascist society.