New Wave Opera, performs a program titled Rising Tides, an exploration of our warming world, the beauty of nature, and the fight for social justice through opera and songs in English. The program features previews of Portland composer Caroline Louise Miller's queer fantasy opera Deep Water, Dianne Davies' A Solemn Promise, Lisa Neher and Bea Goodwin's No, Nancy! You Can't Say That, and other art songs and ensembles by living composers, many of whom live right here in Portland including Stacey Philipps, Lisa Marsh, William Campbell, Drew Swatosh, and Omar Najmi.

Rising Tides is performed by Portland's leading interpreters of contemporary music: soprano Lindsey Rae Johnson, mezzo-soprano Lisa Neher, and pianist Stephen Lewis, with special guest artist Susan McBerry, narrator. 

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Caroline Louise Miller's queer fantasy opera, Deep Water, follows teenage oracles Val and Bluejay as they wander a post-apocalyptic world to document the fall of humanity. 

Rising Tides also includes excerpts from operas in progress by Pacific Northwest composers. Dianne Davies' A Solemn Promise, based on the novel North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, is a dramatic showdown between the stern and powerful Mrs. Thornton and the strong-willed outsider Margaret. 

In Lisa Neher and Bea Goodwin's No, Nancy! You Can't Say That! Carolyn Keene, author of the famous Nancy Drew novels, bursts into Nancy's world to stop her from being so independent. Her editors insist that she make Nancy more ladylike. But Nancy fights back and wants to know why she should be anything other than herself. 

UPCOMING PERFORMANCE

New Wave Opera is proud to present the premiere of Deep Water, June 18-21, in collaboration with Portland State University. Renowned Portland soprano and voice teacher Susan McBerry joins New Wave Opera to narrate Upon a Broken World, by Lisa Neher and poets Amy Lowell, Maggie Smith, and Danusha Lameris. The piece contemplates the end of wars, the struggle to maintain hope, and the beauty of day to day interactions. 

ABOUT NEW WAVE OPERA

(NWO) is a Portland, Oregon based 501(c)3 nonprofit opera company that exclusively performs opera and vocal music by living composers. NWO believes that opera is a living art form and that new works best represent the variety of stories, experiences, and identities of NWO's performers and audiences. Their productions uplift composers, librettists, and performers of diverse backgrounds and experiences, while investing heavily in the rich talent pool of our region. 

New Wave Opera is especially committed to emphasizing treble voices, which are largely underused in standard opera repertoire, and fostering a professional, welcoming, and healthy creative environment for all voice types and identities. We believe opera can be for everyone, and are eager to showcase all that the world of opera is capable of encompassing. In June 2026, NWO will perform the world premiere of Portland composer Caroline Louise Miller's post-apocalyptic fantasy opera, Deep Water, in collaboration with Portland State University. 

The core team consists of Founder & President, resident mezzo-soprano & composer, Dr. Lisa Neher; Vice-President, Board Treasurer and resident soprano Lindsey Rae Johnson; and Board Member, resident pianist, composer, and conductor Dr. Stephen Lewis. As individual working artists, they have jointly-produced concerts, operas, and other presentations of contemporary and theatrical music in the Portland, Oregon region since 2018—reorganizing as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization to create a formal home in 2023. Co-founders included Neher, Johnson, and composer Kimberly R. Osberg, as well as substantial support from vocal advisor Susan McBerry and Really Spicy Opera's Basil Considine.