At eight years old, Ricky Ian Gordon pulled The Victor Book of the Opera off his piano teacher’s bookshelf, and his world shifted on its axis.Though scandal, sadness, and confusion would shake that world over the next few decades, its polestar remained constant.Music has been the guiding force of Gordon’s life; through it, he has been able not only to survive great sorrow but also to capture the depths of emotion in song.It is this strength, this technical and visceral genius, that has made him one of our generation’s greatest composers.