Until a few years ago, Irish composer Emma O'Halloran had never even considered writing an opera, "because it seemed so grand, and fancy," she says. "And I didn't really feel like I would be a person ...

If you’re an opera buff or even a casual classical music concertgoer, you’re likely to have attended productions of “La Traviata” in the past. You know the story: Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic 1853 opera ...