Join us for a lively pre-release celebration of Anthony Roth Costanzo's new book Countertenor and its companion album of the same name! Featuring readings from Countertenor by celebrity guests and esteemed countertenors, alongside a special performance by Anthony Roth Costanzo. DJ Prince Terrence will close out the show with a set that will keep you dancing all night!
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The sound of a countertenor—often described as ethereal and otherworldly—is both familiar and foreign. It is a high voice close to what we might expect from a female opera singer. Though we recognize the range from contemporary pop music and cartoons, from Michael Jackson to Mickey Mouse, experiencing its penetrating power unamplified in an opera house can be surprising, elemental, and profoundly moving.
In Countertenor, Anthony Roth Costanzo, one of the world’s leading opera singers, takes us on a journey through his life, his education in art, and the history of his extraordinary voice type. Countertenors, he tells us, have helped define contemporary opera for more than half a century, having inherited a repertoire originally written for castrated men in the baroque period. Part oddity, part divinity, the castrati were surgically altered before puberty. They are key to understanding the development of opera as a form, from its very origins to its expansion in the public sphere. The striking beauty and sheer otherness of the high male voice provide fertile ground for creative invention and innovation, evocatively challenging conventional notions of gender, sexuality, and identity.
With wit, humor, and an irrepressible, irresistible energy, Anthony Roth Costanzo offers fascinating insights into the contours of the countertenor and his own extraordinary artistic career as both an opera singer and a savvy producer and curator. The result is a lively and stirring account of an art form in flux, in constant reinvention, of the excitement of new, boundary-pushing work, and of the development and triumph of a remarkable, uninhibited voice.
This performance is made possible thanks to the generous support of Ann Ziff.
This performance features mixed standing and seated room. If you require accessibility accommodations, please email boxoffice@nationalsawdust.org.
ABOUT ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO
Anthony Roth Costanzo, the Grammy Award–winning countertenor, began performing professionally at the age of eleven and has since appeared in operas, concerts, recitals, and films and on Broadway. He has performed with many of the world’s leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera—most notably in the title role of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten—and the Opéra national de Paris, and at a wide variety of venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Versailles, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In June 2024 he began his tenure as general director and president of Opera Philadelphia. He is also the artistic director of SongStudio at Carnegie Hall. He earned his master’s degree and an honorary doctorate from Manhattan School of Music and his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.
ABOUT PRINCE TERRENCE
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Prince Terrence is a New York–based musician, vocalist, drummer, DJ, and creative force behind Rare Form, his dark electronic pop project known for its genre-defying sound, commanding vocals, and visceral live performances. A dynamic multi-instrumentalist, he has also performed as a live drummer with Major Lazer, Steve Aoki, Louis Tomlinson of One Direction, Santigold, and HeartsRevolution, bringing his signature energy to stages worldwide. His work has been featured by Billboard, SPIN, Alternative Press, Rolling Stone, and more, while his performances and creative work have appeared across MTV, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Today Show. A fixture in New York’s underground music and fashion scenes, Prince Terrence has brought his energy to events for major brands including Gucci, Coach, Red Bull, Milk, Nylon, Vice, and Diesel. He is also the founder of CELL VISION, an independent art and culture platform launched in 2019 to amplify emerging voices across music, fashion, and art subcultures.