The commissions will include musical scores, dances and music-theater pieces.

It's more of a music-theater piece; it lends itself to a more intimate setting.

This socially conscious music-theater piece features a cast of actors and animals, including, as star, Flora the elephant.

The company presents new music-theater pieces.

It seemed impossible to present on a stage, let alone as a music-theater piece.

"Serious Fun is one of the few places where you can present a small-scale but major music-theater piece," he said.

All these were to be become important influences in Ayuo's music and music-theater pieces.

Within the ensemble, he's the force for theatricality, and he often writes unconventional music-theater pieces for his own groups.

All the opera companies do educational work, taking opera into schools and working with children to create music-theater pieces.

July 12-13: "Logic of the Birds," a multi-media music-theater piece.