Alaina Ferris, Composer

Alaina Ferris is an interdisciplinary composer, poet, and performer specializing in opera, choral music, and contemporary theater. Described by The New York Times as “arrestingly lovely” and “haunting,” her music explores themes of empathy, memory, resilience, and the lived impact of violence against women. An active vocalist, pianist, and Celtic harpist, she draws inspiration from her former work as a music therapist, as well as from Renaissance chorales, classical orchestrations, jazz and folk improvisation techniques, and avant-garde poetics.

In addition to The Lydian Gale Parr, her recent compositions include Simone at the Museum, a vampire opera in development; Mia Rovegno and Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew’s adaptation of The Blind (Les aveugles) by Maurice Maeterlinck (HERE Arts Center); Joshua William Gelb’s adaptation of The Black Crook (Abrons Arts Center); The Offending Gestureby Mac Wellman (The Connelly Theater); and Scott Adkins’s The Kioskers (St. Ann’s Warehouse Puppet Lab). She has collaborated with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Barnard College, César Alvarez, Coco Karol, Sxip Shirey, Anne Waldman, William Burke, and others.

Ferris has received fellowships and grants from the Hermitage Artist Residency, NYC Women’s Fund, New Music USA, Cité Internationale des Arts, The American Opera Project, and was a National Sawdust Summerlab Musician. Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and raised in Boulder County, Colorado, she earned a B.A. in Music and Creative Writing from the University of Denver, an M.F.A. in Poetry from New York University, and an M.M. in Composition from Manhattan School of Music. She lives and works in New York.

‍

Karinne Keithley Syers, Librettist

Karinne Keithley Syers makes performance and satellite variations on performance in print, radio, and new media. Recent projects include the libretto for The Lydian Gale Parr, Henry at the Golden Hour, a short film she wrote and edited, directed by Maureen Towey, Loom Troll, a death-facing radio play, the novella Agnes, or the Clouds, and Your Ghost Body, a video game memory palace that will be released in conjunction with a performance at The Chocolate Factory Theater in March, 2026. Her chamber opera ontgomery Park, or Opulence won a Bessie Award for Outstanding Production in 2011. Her work has been seen at The Chocolate Factory Theater, Danspace Project, Dixon Place, La MaMa E.T.C., Tonic, innumerable installations of Catch, several Little Theaters, The Ohio Theater’s Ice Factory festival, Surf Reality, and Ur. She is an alumnus of New Dramatists. As a performer and designer, she has collaborated with David Neumann, Young Jean Lee, Big Dance Theater, Sibyl Kempson, Sara Smith, Chris Yon, The Civilians, Talking Band, and Theater of a Two-Headed Calf. She is the founding editor of 53rd State Press. 

‍

Johanna McKeon, Director

Johanna McKeon is an NYC based director of plays, musicals and independent film. This year she directed THE PANSY CRAZE featuring Mason Alexander Park for Audible at The Minetta Lane Theater as well as the world premiere of THE NATIONAL PASTIME by Rogelio Martinez at Syracuse Stage. She is currently the Associate Director of CHESS on Broadway. Further Broadway credits include SWEPT AWAY, FUNNY GIRL, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, AMERICAN IDIOT, WAR PAINT, GREY GARDENS and KING KONG.

Directing credits include HENRY V, NOURA, UNSEEN, and ANONYMOUS BIOGRAPHY (Old Globe), HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH featuring Mason Alexander Park (Olney), THE FEMALE POPE scored by Heather Christian (New Group workshop),  Anne Washburn’s I HAVE LOVED STRANGERS (premiere-Williamstown and Clubbed Thumb), Mona Mansour’s WE SWIM, WE TALK, WE GO TO WAR ( East Coast premiere-Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse) TOKIO CONFIDENTIAL (Atlantic), Semi-Permanent (NY Fringe Festival *Outstanding Solo Show), Golden Motors (BRIC), The Importance of Being Earnest (Bard), THE TANKS BREAK, FIESTA CABANA, FUNCTIONAL DRUNK (Ontological-Hysteric Theatre). She has directed frequently with Obie Award winning Noor Theater. Her independent feature film of Karinne Keithley Syers’ play MY ADDRESS IS STILL WALTON HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN IT? screened at the Redentore Festival in the 2024 Venice Biennale. She is a co-founder of the Susan Sontag Prize for Translation and she served as a panelist for the Herb Alpert Award for the Arts in 2020. She spent a year working as Regie Praktikant in Berlin at the Schaubuehne and Maxim Gorki Theater and she has worked extensively with Toho Theatrical in Tokyo. Johanna is the recipient of Drama League, Boris Sagal and Fulbright Fellowships. MFA UT Austin.

‍

Amanda + James, Producer

Amanda + James is a New York-based company dedicated to producing the work of emerging artists. They provide a space for this community to follow creative impulses, refine ideas into projects, and collaborate and learn from their peers. In fulfillment of our mission, A+J produces a suite of ongoing programs: Sessions (chamber music), PlayTime (theatrical work), Dance+ (interdisciplinary dance work), Sightlines (choreographic residency), Summer Happenings (performance art) and Working Titles (opera). Amanda + James also develops and presents larger-scale, multi-disciplinary productions and co-productions. They have ranged from an original EDM opera, to a communist burlesque musicale, to a new immersive project based on the music of Olivier Messiaen and an original chamber oratorio, The Lydian Gale Parr. Over its twelve year history, Amanda + James has collaborated with a diverse range of over 300 artists and counting. The company is dedicated to supporting today’s rising artists and is proud to have supported and furthered the work of an impressive group of creators  across all mediums of art, having presented at venues including Target Margin Theater, Pioneer Works, the Chelsea Hotel, Coffey Street Studio, CPR-Center for Performance Research, Ars Nova, and more.

This is a seated performance. If you need accessibility accommodations, please email boxoffice@nationalsawdust.org.

// Main photo by Peter Bellamy