Following a Kennedy Center commission for The Cartography Project, assistant professor in the School of Music Brittney Boykin is once again called on by the Nation's capital.

The Washington National Opera announced that they have commissioned Brittney Boykin to write a new chamber opera as part of their American Opera Initiative. School of Music chair Jason Freeman said, "This program is considered among the most prestigious in the country for early-career composers in opera." Her new work will premiere at the Kennedy Center in January 2023.

"Opera is a beautiful way of story-telling through classical and modern music," Boykin said. "It has changed so much over the years and I'm really excited to participate in the evolution of it."

"There are a lot of factors that are needed in order for an opera to be successful in story-telling: set, libretto, staging, costumes and of course, music. I think Tech students 'get' opera in ways an average listener may not due to their ability to analyze quickly and critically, which would fuel emotional connectivity."

Boykin directs Georgia Tech's Treble Choir, and said the wide range of diversity in student musicians at Tech makes it a unique community. 

"The students are brilliant within the realm of technology, and bring that same level of brilliance to their musicianship. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before and makes our ensembles within the School of Music very special," she said.

Boykin will work with fellow musician Jarrod Lee as one of three American Opera Initiative composer-librettist teams debuting world-premier chamber operas in 2023.