Mikel Rouse is one of the most important and accomplished contemporary American opera composers. He’s an avant-gardist with pop and deep humanist appeal. His memoir, The World Got Away, will be published May 21 by the University of Illinois Press. He sat down for coffee with the Rail on a bright, chilly March afternoon in Hell’s Kitchen.
He’s self-released more than 60 searing albums – some with only a single copy – made with instruments including his late wife’s jewellery. On a drive through northern moorlands, he explains his singular sonic world