Composer Jorge Sosa and librettist Melisa Tien were commissioned by the University of Northern Iowa to write a new opera for the students of their opera program.
The result was the dark comedy The Beehive, in which a young woman named Abby struggles to find her identity within a hairstyling community in small-town America, which is facing a crisis of its own. Joy, laughter, and tears abound in this contemporary opera, featuring a musical style influenced by pop and jazz, and performed by opera singers alongside a full orchestra.
