Craig BrandweinThe “Opera in One Act,” composed by UAB Music Professor Craig Brandwein with libretto by David Sellers, features a cast of singers, and many instrumentalists, who are recent graduates of the UAB music program., assistant professor of music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has released a new opera, “Longing – A Love Across the Ages (An Opera in One Act).”

Brandwein, an Emmy-nominated producer and songwriter, composed the music to the libretto written by David Sellers. He says he was inspired by the tradition of great “art song” composers, such as Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Gabriel Fauré, Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler. 

Sellers advises English, philosophy and music majors in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences and teaches composition and literature in the UAB Department of English.

The singers who perform the opera are all graduates of the UAB Department of Music, along with many of the accompanying orchestral players. The opera is available on major streaming platforms. “Longing – A Love Across the Ages (An Opera in One Act)” is receiving high praise, including reviews from critics with Melody Makers magazine, Indie Pulse Music, The Hollywood Digest and on Medium.

Set in New York City in the late 1920s, it is the story of Dr. Curtis and his daughter, Elise, who are preparing a new Egyptian exhibit of their recent excavation. There, the Forgotten Prince, who was cursed in life, lies in his sarcophagus. The curse destroyed his entire family, ending a dynasty but leaving the prince alive and trapped in his tomb for thousands of years. Since his discovery, he has watched in secret, learned the new language that he hears and fallen in love with Elise. Guided by the ghost of his mother, he will reveal himself to his new love. So begins their love story, but the curse is not yet finished with the ancient prince.

The role of Elise is performed by Laura Melton, a UAB music minor and nursing graduate from Helena, Alabama, who began singing in choirs and taking voice lessons at a young age. While studying in the UAB Honors College Personalized Path, she joined UAB’s Concert Choir in 2018, studied classical and operatic repertoire under Associate Professor Won Cho, DMA, participated in local competitions and master classes, and sang with the Mountain Brook Baptist Choir. After earning her degree and graduating with Distinguished Honors, Melton performed at the Assisi Music Festival in Italy, including recitals, master classes and Italian Catholic masses. Now a registered nurse at UAB, she continues to enjoy singing opera in her free time.

The role of the Forgotten Prince is sung by Austin Green of Brookwood, Alabama, who is pursuing a Master of Arts in Education degree in music education at UAB after completing his undergraduate degree in 2024. For UAB Opera, Green performed leading roles in Douglas Moore’s “Gallantry,” Neil Weisensel’s “Gisela in Her Bathtub,” and Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance.” A voice student of Assistant Professor Lara Wilson, DMA, he won first place in 2023 at the Alabama National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions.

Christopher Blake Farley, a baritone from Morris, Alabama, is in the role of Dr. Curtis. Winner of the Vann Vocal Institute’s top prize, he also won an engagement award from the Laffont Competition, hosted by New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Farley’s most recent appearances have been as Count Carl Magnus Malcolm in Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” with Opera Huntsville and as Guglielmo in Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” with Opera NEO in San Diego, California. Farley graduated from UAB with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music as a voice student of Associate Professor Emeritus Paul Mosteller, DMA.

The role of the Queen is sung by UAB music alumna Ashley Black, a coloratura soprano from Birmingham, Alabama, who instructs and performs in Northern California, where she resides. Her stage experience includes the Mother in Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” Opera Birmingham’s production of “L’elisir d’amore,” “Romeo et Juliet” and “Tosca,” The Sacramento Master Singers, and the 2016 Chinese New Year Gala in Birmingham, where she sang in Mandarin. Black lent her voice to the documentary “Lost in the Maze” and is working on her debut album of original music, set to be released this year. Black was also a voice student of Mosteller and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music.

Nick Mathes, a 2021 graduate in music technology from UAB, is the orchestrator. His accolades

include the Mosteller Voice Scholarship and Outstanding Student awards in UAB Opera, Concert Choir and Commercial Music Ensemble. A voice student of Professor Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk, DMA, Mathes performed in Stephen Paulus’ “The Three Hermits” and was Ivan in Richard Wargo’s “The Music Shop.” He has collaborated on orchestration and score editing projects with UAB music faculty, composed original music for chorus and solo repertoire, and been a studio vocalist for various artists. He is assistant of Music and Fine Arts at Independent Presbyterian Church in Birmingham.

Conductor Matthew Barron earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from UAB and was the student of recently retired Distinguished Professor of clarinet Denise Gainey, DMA. Since 2010, Barron has performed in pit orchestras with Red Mountain Theatre, Birmingham Festival Theatre, Terrific New Theatre and Virginia Samford Theatre. Primarily a clarinetist, he is also proficient in flute and saxophone. Barron is woodwinds instructor for several high schools in the Greater Birmingham area.

“Longing – A Love Across the Ages” was recorded at Audiostate 55 Studio, in Woodlawn, Alabama, produced by Brandwein, and mastered by Brandwein and engineer James Beville, with Josh Ford, assistant engineer. The recording’s cover design is by UAB art graduate Sydney Marlin.

The orchestral players for the recording include many recent graduates, a retired professor, several current UAB students and Alabama Symphony Orchestra players, including instrumentalists Greg Lucero and Chrisdeeona Jackson, flute; Emily Zhang, oboe; Gainey, Lori Ardovino and Kathy White Bass, clarinet; James Baker and Brianna Tellis, French horn; Alec Jones, Tyler Joseph-Byrd, CJ Davis and Justin Belcher, percussion; Noah Boggan, tympani; Zoe Willis, piano; Serghei Tanas, Esther Roestan, violin; Lucina Horner Crosby, viola; Mary Del Gobbo, cello; and Sam Rocklin, double bass.

Brandwein gives special thanks to UAB and the UAB Faculty Development Grant for support on the project.

Brandwein has written and produced music for various artists and composed music for network television, corporate clients and musical theater. He has also composed music for more than a dozen independent films, where he also served as music supervisor and post-production supervisor. Sellers has recently completed a novel and a collection of poetry, with two more novels in progress.