Bio
Composer Stefania de Kenessey’s opera adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s best-selling novel “Bonfire of the Vanities” (bonfiretheopera.com) premiered in New York City in 2015 to considerable acclaim: “melodically ingratiating…skillfully wrought…caustically witty” (Financial Times); “unlike a lot of contemporary opera, tuneful and grateful to the voice” (The Observer). A darkly funny political satire, updated to contemporary concerns, the music now concludes with the collapse of the Stock Exchange, firm after firm crumbling on Wall Street… De Kenessey’s music has been performed extensively in venues both traditional and off-the-beaten path, ranging from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to LaMama and Joe’s Pub. Premieres in 2018-2019 featured her (mostly) humorous cabaret songbook, The Well-Tempered Woman, for which she wrote both music and lyrics, as well as SHE, her first purely electronic score for Ariel Rivka Dance. Stefania composed an anthem for platform cooperativism.