Lifting Every Voice

Cosmia Opera Collective is breathing new life into a classical art form.

The student-run opera group focuses on promoting contemporary works by women and other underrepresented creatives. Founded by senior Cecelia Olszewski in 2024, Cosmia produces operas from the ground up, developing the music and libretto, sourcing costumes, and designing lighting and choreography — all on a shoestring budget.

“We do absolutely everything,” says Olszewski, a composition major who wrote the group’s first opera, devoted, which premiered in March 2024. “We’re trying to make Cosmia as close to professional as possible to prepare students for the real opera world.” devoted imagined the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene in purgatory — in this case, a teenage girl’s bedroom.

Cosmia puts on main stage productions up to three times a year and also produces annual fundraiser concerts called “Moth Songs,” which pair composers and singers to create new work. Nearly all of Cosmia’s productions are written by students, with a focus on underrepresented stories.

The group’s winter 2026 opera, GREEN ROOM, for example, is set in a World War I prison camp. Produced by 17 students and five recent alums, the show explores the role of queer spaces as sites of survival, identity formation and transformation across time.

“We all have a story to tell,” says senior voice and opera major Claire Coven, a co-producer and performer with Cosmia. “And when you go to the opera, to the symphony, to the ballet, you may not see yourself onstage. It’s important to promote as many voices as possible. … It makes you a more authentic and thoughtful … listener.”

“I’m so proud of everything that we’ve put together,” says Olszewski, who also wrote GREEN ROOM. “Cosmia is the most rewarding thing I’ve done at Northwestern. This is what I want to do forever.”