Lori Laitman

American composer

Lori Laitman is an American composer who has composed multiple operas, choral works, and over 300 songs. Laitman has set texts by classical and contemporary poets (including those who were murdered in the Holocaust) in her compositions. Set to poetry by Joyce Sutphen, Living in the Body explores themes such as grief, loss, the past, and their emotional toll on the body of someone looking towards the second half of their life. The cycle was composed between September 14t and December 3, 2001, and was premiered on March 7, 2002 at the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference at the University of North Texas. and the May 2016 issue of Opera News had a feature about Laitman and The Scarlet Letter. Naxos released the CD in Aug. 2017. Performances took place at The University of Oklahoma in February 2022 and at Wichita State University in April 2022.

Laitman and Mason also collaborated on Vedem, a Holocaust oratorio commissioned by Music of Remembrance. Indianapolis Opera's double bill of Vedem and Brundibar was produced March 18–20, 2022 (after several Coronavirus delays). It was the first time an opera by a woman was presented by the company.

Laitman and Mason continued to develop the opera Ludlow, based on Mason's verse novel about the 1914 mining disaster in Ludlow, Colorado.

Laitman created The Three Feathers children's opera with librettist Dana Gioia, based on a Grimm's fairy tale. It was commissioned by the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. The work premiered in conjunction with VA Tech, Opera Roanoke and the Blacksburg Children's Chorale in Oct. 2015 in a production directed by Beth Greenberg and conducted by Scott Williamson. Huffington Post ran a feature on the opera. Dormady Eisenberg, Susan, "Lines Written At The Falls" (November 2005), Classical Singer. Dormady Eisenberg, Susan, "From Art Song To Opera" (October 2009), Classical Singer.