When I taught at Emerson College in Boston in the early 1980s, the school had a thriving musical theater division, but nothing approaching a traditional classical music department. Still, there were gifted singers among the students in my music theory classes, many of whom could barely read music when they arrived. There were also some fine voices in the college chorus that my colleague, the composer Scott Wheeler, directed.

I wanted to showcase these young singers in material that would challenge them. So Scott and I decided to put on an annual opera, choosing works that placed a premium on verbal clarity; in the great tradition of musical theater, these students were naturals at putting words first when they sang. We began with Monteverdi’s “The Coronation of Poppea,” which has long stretches of dramatically charged arioso — a quasi-melodic style that requires crisp delivery of the text. Trimmed and performed in English translation, this tale of sexual intrigue and ruthless ambition proved a great fit.

Our next choice was riskier but, we thought, potentially exciting: Virgil Thomson’s opera “The Mother of Us All,” with a libretto by Gertrude Stein. New Yorkers will soon have a rare opportunity to see this distinctive and timely work. As part of its celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which brought the vote to women, the New York Philharmonic is presenting a production of “Mother” with the Juilliard School and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where four performances will take place, Feb. 8-14, at the Charles Engelhard Court in the museum’s American Wing.