May 11, 2026
Ensemble intercontemporain
« UNE LUMIÈRE QUI SEMBLE TOUJOURS SE DISPERSER ». ENTRETIEN AVEC NICHOLAS BENTZ, COMPOSITEUR.
Interview in French on 'a gleaming like ivory...'
Le titre de la pièce m’a fourni l’image d’une structure qui se désintègre lentement jusqu’à être réduite à des particules, mais dans un processus qui dégage une lueur aveuglante. Dans mon propre langage harmonique, cette image se transforme en un sentiment de consonance qui ne s’établit jamais, une brillance qui semble toujours se disperser.
May 11, 2026
Ensemble intercontemporain
« UNE LUMIÈRE QUI SEMBLE TOUJOURS SE DISPERSER ». ENTRETIEN AVEC NICHOLAS BENTZ, COMPOSITEUR.
Interview in French on 'a gleaming like ivory...'
Le titre de la pièce m’a fourni l’image d’une structure qui se désintègre lentement jusqu’à être réduite à des particules, mais dans un processus qui dégage une lueur aveuglante. Dans mon propre langage harmonique, cette image se transforme en un sentiment de consonance qui ne s’établit jamais, une brillance qui semble toujours se disperser.
July 26, 2026
to the stage!
Love Letters: 8th Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera
The first micro-opera in the festival was 'Having Guests for Dinner', an uproarious take on cannibalism, with chaotically sophisticated music by Nicholas Bentz + libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng.
July 21, 2026
Broadway World
Review: 8TH FRESH SQUEEZED OUNCE OF OPERA at DadaLab
Three original pieces prove that contemporary stories can be just as compelling as opera's grandest traditions. Now playing through July 25th, 2026
My favorite is 'Having Guests for Dinner', with music by Nicholas Bentz and a libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng. What begins as an ordinary dinner gathering quickly unravels into deliciously dark comedy, packed with clever twists, razor-sharp humour, and an irresistibly absurd premise. It feels perfectly suited to the format of the festival; marrying theatrical wit with an inventive score while proving that opera can be every bit as funny as it is dramatic.
July 21, 2026
Broadway World
Review: 8TH FRESH SQUEEZED OUNCE OF OPERA at DadaLab
Three original pieces prove that contemporary stories can be just as compelling as opera's grandest traditions. Now playing through July 25th, 2026
My favorite is 'Having Guests for Dinner', with music by Nicholas Bentz and a libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng. What begins as an ordinary dinner gathering quickly unravels into deliciously dark comedy, packed with clever twists, razor-sharp humour, and an irresistibly absurd premise. It feels perfectly suited to the format of the festival; marrying theatrical wit with an inventive score while proving that opera can be every bit as funny as it is dramatic.
July 16, 2026
Austin Chronicle
One Ounce Opera Breaks Down Baroque Barriers
A preview for One Ounce Opera's production of 'Having Guests for Dinner'
May 29, 2026
Schott-EAM
Ensemble intercontemporain Premieres Nick Bentz's 'a gleaming like ivory that slowly resolves until it becomes dust' on Wigmore Hall's Voices of Today Series
July 21, 2026
Broadway World
Review: 8TH FRESH SQUEEZED OUNCE OF OPERA at DadaLab
Three original pieces prove that contemporary stories can be just as compelling as opera's grandest traditions. Now playing through July 25th, 2026
My favorite is 'Having Guests for Dinner', with music by Nicholas Bentz and a libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng. What begins as an ordinary dinner gathering quickly unravels into deliciously dark comedy, packed with clever twists, razor-sharp humour, and an irresistibly absurd premise. It feels perfectly suited to the format of the festival; marrying theatrical wit with an inventive score while proving that opera can be every bit as funny as it is dramatic.
July 21, 2026
Broadway World
Review: 8TH FRESH SQUEEZED OUNCE OF OPERA at DadaLab
Three original pieces prove that contemporary stories can be just as compelling as opera's grandest traditions. Now playing through July 25th, 2026
My favorite is 'Having Guests for Dinner', with music by Nicholas Bentz and a libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng. What begins as an ordinary dinner gathering quickly unravels into deliciously dark comedy, packed with clever twists, razor-sharp humour, and an irresistibly absurd premise. It feels perfectly suited to the format of the festival; marrying theatrical wit with an inventive score while proving that opera can be every bit as funny as it is dramatic.
September 28, 2023
I care if you listen
A Cosmic Centennial: Han Chen Premieres 18 Piano Pieces in Response to Ligeti’s Etudes
Nick Bentz’s 'Machine #1' teased a light pop idiom before taking a hard left into dense metallic machinations.
January 12, 2023
China Daily
Poetry emotions
Nicholas Bentz speaks about bringing Tang Dynasty poems to life through music
'I wanted to get as close to the source as possible and let the poem stand on its own legs'
January 11, 2023
OperaWire
Alice Tully Hall 2023 Review: iSing! Suzhou’s ‘Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems’
Then came arguably the most operatic of pieces in the form of American composer Nicholas Bentz’s interpretation of Yang Jiong’s 'Enlisting.' Written for two baritones and a bass, the piece’s thick orchestral and forward drive not only created a powerful visualization of the drive toward war, but featured exquisite vocal writing
January 11, 2023
OperaWire
Alice Tully Hall 2023 Review: iSing! Suzhou’s ‘Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems’
Then came arguably the most operatic of pieces in the form of American composer Nicholas Bentz’s interpretation of Yang Jiong’s 'Enlisting.' Written for two baritones and a bass, the piece’s thick orchestral and forward drive not only created a powerful visualization of the drive toward war, but featured exquisite vocal writing
