J O H N G B I L O T T A
composer
C o m p o s e r / L i b r e t t i s t
COMPOSER
JOHN G. BILOTTA was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, but has spent most his life in the San Francisco Bay Area where he studied composition with Frederick Saunders. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, his works have been performed by soloists and ensembles around the world. His first chamber opera Aria da Capo, on the play by Edna St. Vincent Millay, was a finalist in a competition sponsored by the New York City Opera. His comic opera Quantum Mechanic won the 2007 Opera-in-a-Month Challenge. Trifles, based on the play by Susan Glaspell, is his third chamber opera. John is a member of the Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc., and is editor of SCION, the organization's opportunities newsletter.
LIBRETTIST
JOHN F. MCGREW studied piano, harmony, and composition as a teenager with Alexander Sckaventa (a student of Rimsky-Korsakov). After receiving his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology he worked as a human factors engineer for 30 years. He returned to music studying with Aaron Blumenfeld. John has played the contrabass in Bay Area community orchestras, Washington D.C., and Pasadena. and is an amateur guitarist. He wrote the libretto for Quantum Mechanic which won the 2007 Opera-in-a-Month Challenge, and for Trifles and A Christmas Tale. He composed the music for Three Haiku Songs for soprano and string quartet. He has written short stories, screen plays, children's stories, a novel, and acted in the film Xtraterrestrials Xposed.
