If you like your new music to be presented in a theatrical style, you’ll love this edition of In The Loop! Lots of opera going on this month, read on: MARTIN HALPERN is the resident composer of the Brooklyn Music School Playhouse, which will present the world premiere of his The Siege of Syracuse. Set in Athens, Greece, in 413 BC, the opera dramatizes the tragic fall of the once glorious Athenian empire as a result of disastrous policies which may call to mind American policies in Vietnam and Iraq. The cast includes actual historical figures like the hawkish Cleophon, head of the Athenian council, and his antagonist, the philosopher Socrates, as well as fictional characters including a four-person chorus representing the city’s populace. The Brooklyn Music School Playhouse is at 126 St. Felix Street, around the corner from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and from the Atlantic Avenue stop of the 2, 3, 4, 5, R and Q trains and the Long Island Railroad. There is also parking at the lot across from BAM. The dates are: Friday, October 31 at 8 PMSaturday, November 1 at 8 PMSunday, November 2 at 4 PMTickets $20; student tickets $10Buy tickets online at http://www.brooklynmusicschool.orgor make reservations by calling 718-638-5660, Ext. 10 

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Soprano MELISSA FOGARTY is involved in several  projects throughout October. First, she is participating in the American Opera Projects “Composers and the Voice: Six Scenes,” a presentation of new opera scenes from emerging composers. Melissa will be playing the English Teacher in Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case” by Gregory Spears, libretto by Kathryn Walat. Fri Oct 3 & Sat Oct 4, 8 PM, South Oxford Space, 138 South Oxford St., Brooklyn NY For tickets and more information, visit the American Opera Projects. She is also in Three, Two, One- BANG! Composers Collaborative Serial UndergroundA reading of an opera by Justine F. Chen, which was commissioned by Long Leaf Opera for their youth program. It is a clever re-telling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Monday, Oct 13, 8:30 PM, The Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, NYCFriday, Oct 24, Time TBA, The Zipper Factory, 336 W. 37th Street, NYC 

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PETER DIZOZZA‘s new musical mystery play Paradise Found, with 9 songs and full piano score, presented in conjunction with Milton’s 400th Birthday Art Exhibition at The Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, 135 Broadway at Bedford  Avenue.  October 3, 4, 10 and 11.  Admission $15; more info at (718) 486-7372  and www.wahcenter.net/ 

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Mezzo ANNA TONNA is in the cast of the opera Costanza. The opera is about the medieval Sicilian Queen Costanza, daughter of the Golden Age of Sicily brought about during the Reign of her father, King Roggiero II. Music by John Marino, libretto by Florence Bocarius.  Featuring an 11-piece professional orchestra and chorus conducted by the composer SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26TH, 2008 @ 4:00PM OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL CHURCH 627 East 187th Street and Belmont Avenue, Bronx, NY 10458. (Located 1 Block from Arthur Avenue; 3 blocks from Fordham University) Tickets: At the door or for more information please contact the Rectory at: (718) 295-3770 http://www.ourladymtcarmelbx.org/opera.htm

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TAMARA CASHOUR and RICHARD RUSSELL are both winners of a 2008-09 ASCAPlus award.