Melissa Dunphy

About

Commissioned by Oberlin Conservatory's Opera Commissioning Program through the generosity of Elizabeth and Justus '71 Schlichting.

Related Works

Alice Tierney (7 solo voices, chamber ensemble)

Download the PDF above, or purchase hard copies of this score from Bandcamp.

Commissioned by the Oberlin Opera Commissioning Program through the generosity of Elizabeth and Justus '71 Schlichting, this opera Alice Tierney was premiered at Oberlin Conservatory in 2023, and at Opera Columbus in April 2023. Dunphy was one of seven winners of a 2020 OPERA America Discovery Grant, presented to female composers with the intention of increasing gender parity across the opera industry. That grant supported the development of Alice Tierney at Oberlin. This score is a collection of three arias for soprano (with piano accompaniment) excerpted from the opera, and is suitable for recitals and auditions.

I Wish that You Could See You
By Jacqueline Goldfinger

LYRA: I wish that you could see you
the way that I see you.
I wish that you could feel you
the way that I feel you.
Not broken but brave,
and brilliant and bold,
and genuine and strong, so strong.
A beautiful monster of madness and rage
that only I can tame,
that only I can hold.
I thought I was in love, once long ago.
I thought she made me whole.
I didn't know it was really you.
My love, I was waiting for you.
My love, who arrived at my door,
soaked and freezing,
Lost in a storm with only me to keep you warm,
give you a home, give you

Artwork by Caroline Church.

Performances

• 13 Feb, 2026: Isabel Marcus, soprano, Manxi Wan, piano at Leah M. Smith Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
• 21 Sep, 2025: New Wave Opera at Mago Hunt Center Recital Hall, University of Portland, Portland ,OR
• 16 Aug, 2025: Amanda Rose Taddeo, soprano, Lisa Neher, mezzo-soprano, Sequoia, piano [Who Are You, Alice?] at Show Bar, Revolution Hall, Portland, OR
• 16 Aug, 2025: Scot Crandal, tenor, Sequoia, piano [Dirt] at Show Bar, Revolution Hall, Portland, OR
• 16 Aug, 2025: Amanda Rose Taddeo, soprano, Sequoia, piano [I wish that you could see you] at Show Bar, Revolution Hall, Portland, OR
• 16 Aug, 2025: Henri?t Fourie, soprano, Nicole Hanig, mezzo-soprano, Lindsey Rae Johnson, soprano, Sequoia, piano [Layers of Time] at Show Bar, Revolution Hall, Portland, OR
• 12 Jul, 2025: Lindsey Rae Johnson, soprano, Stephen Lewis, piano [I wish that you could see you] at Periwinkle Studio, Westmoreland Neighborhood, Portland, OR
• 12 Jul, 2025: Lisa Neher, mezzo-soprano, Stephen Lewis, piano [Dirt] at Periwinkle Studio, Westmoreland Neighborhood, Portland, OR
• 20 May, 2023: Jessica Lennick (solo) at Moorestown Library, Moorestown, NJ