Theo Popov

THEO POPOV is an LA-based composer of opera, theater and dance music. Having explored various forms of sacred and folk traditions, he cultivated a special interest in Classical Antiquity, and has for the last decade worked on researching and incorporating it into his own oeuvre. His first opera, NERO ARTIFEX, presented one of history’s most notorious emperors as a well meaning but incapable ruler, a gullible dreamer and unfortunate artist. His second opera Once Upon the Wind, based on the Russian folktale, “The Soldier Who Captured Death,” premiered at the American Lyric Theater and received a second performance with The Secret Opera, after being selected as a winner in the company’s inaugural Composers Competition. Most recently, Theo won the Second Annual UMD Opera Composition Competition for his opera Town Hall, which tackles challenging questions of American politics. He is also returning to the American Lyric Theater to develop the opera The Halloween Tree, based on a Ray Bradbury novella.