Benjamin T. Rossen appointed as Executive Director of New England's Oldest Opera Company, The Lowell House Opera

BENJAMIN T. ROSSEN: A Catalyst for Innovation

Benjamin T. Rossen had just received his Harvard diploma when he was offered the position of Executive Director of the Lowell House Opera. 

At the young age of 20, Rossen has already had an impressive music career graduating in just three years with a double major in Music and Economics. His journey includes founding the Harvard Ballet Orchestra and serving as the Music Director for the Harvard College Opera's 30th season, for which he was awarded the 2023 Hugh F. MacColl Prize by the Harvard Music Department. He has performed numerous times as a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Cliburn, and the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival. In addition, Rossen is a 2020 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts and a Young Steinway Artist. He has performed on three continents and has participated in numerous international festivals.

"Benjamin Rossen's operatic composition is shockingly beautiful and conceptually provocative. He has created a powerful narrative of movement, sound, song, and ideas. It is a great privilege and a wondrous delight to watch a new artist and a new world suddenly emerge from its chrysalis." boasts David Laibson, Harvard Professor and Faculty Dean of Lowell House.

EMILY PARKER: Dancing as a genuine expression of music

Rossen's first act as executive director was to recruit Emily Parker, a former professional ballerina at the Oregon Ballet Theatre, as the opera's choreographer. Parker, praises The Unknowable, declaring, "It takes what we love about opera and ballet—bravura singing and a highly refined movement aesthetic—and makes it... real."

ABOUT LOWELL HOUSE OPERA: the Oldest Professional Opera Company in New England

Founded in 1938, the Lowell House Opera continually adapted to changing times while preserving opera’s timeless beauty. Rossen explains that“Lowell House Opera presents a unique organizational model: exceptional students have the opportunity to collaborate and direct alongside Boston’s finest professionals." Rossen is committed to assembling an executive team composed entirely of current Harvard students and recent Harvard graduates.