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Artists In Residence
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Badlands Opera Project is thrilled to be able to partner with world class artists and musicians to create and feature new works in western North Dakota!
In 2023 our organization partnered with these artists to feature the
the world premier of Fairy Tale Suite in Dickinson, North Dakota
and surrounding communities.
Willem Oosthuysen
Composer
Willem Oosthuysen is a South African composer and music director based in Brooklyn. His musicals include #MARS (with Laura Kleinbaum, NYFA, Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab), Prodigy (CCU, NYU), Two Bugs Are Better Than One (New York City’s Children’s Theater, Walnut Street Theatre), Cinderella (commissioned/produced by Spotlight Youth Theater), To Have And To Hold (Prospect Theater Company, Barrington Stage, Denver Fringe), all with Jenny Stafford. His short operas include Eternal Rest (NYU and American Opera Projects), The Watering Hole (NYU), both with a libretto by Tristen Moseley, as well as Fairy Tale Suite: A Visit to Baba Yaga, Tin Heart, Tinsel Rose, & The Winter Giant, with a libretto by Chandra McClelland (commissioned by Badlands Opera Project). His work has been featured at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, Prospect Theater, and numerous other New York venues. Willem holds an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, and is a member of the BMI Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop, ASCAP (Plus Award 2018) and the Dramatist Guild.
Chandra McClelland
Librettist
Chandra McClelland is a Brooklyn-based bookwriter-lyricist. Her work has been performed as part of Artemis Theatrical’s Hear Us Roar cabaret, American Opera Projects’ “Park & Bark,” Musical Theatre Factory’s 4×15 series, the University Of Georgia’s Next Act season, and the Badlands Opera Project’s inaugural season. Current projects include This Gorgeous Game, a full-length musical written with composer May-Elise Martinsen; Isabel, a full-length opera with music by Nathan Thatcher; and Fairy Tale Suite: Three Short Operas, with music by Willem Oosthuysen. Chandra has an MFA from NYU Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Member of the Dramatists Guild of America. www.chandraemcclelland.com.
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