Opera America has announced the launch of the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize. The prize was created and funded by renowned librettist Mark Campbell with the intention of awarding an American librettist “who demonstrates an exceptional talent for writing opera librettos and who exhibits the potential for making a substantial contribution to the opera literature.” The $5,000 award will be given {…}
The New York City Opera has announced a series of events aimed at celebrating Pride month. On June 24, 2020, the company will present “Much to Be Done: A Live Stonewall Panel Discussion.” Starting at 8 p.m., audiences will hear from the cast and creative team behind the 2019 opera “Stonewall,” which was created by Mark Campbell and Iain Bell. {…}
(Credit: Frances Marshall) “Opera in the Times of COVID” is an interview series in collaboration with photographer Frances Marshall of Marshall Light Studio. We talk to notable figures from around the opera world to get their perspective on how they feel these challenging times may change opera’s present and future. Mark Campbell doesn’t mince words. He’s written dozens of librettos {…}
Over 100 singers came together for a video performance of “Light Shall Lift Us,” a work by librettist Mark Campbell and composer Paul Moravec. The duo, which has worked together on “The Shining” proposed the idea to Marc Scorca of Opera America, who embraced the idea and helped put together the 107 artists who would eventually record their individual parts {…}
The New York Festival of Song has announced its next two concerts set for March and April. On March 25, 2020, the company will showcase a celebration of the centennial of women’s suffrage in the U.S. This concert, entitled “And Still We Dream” will be curated by composers Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman. Both will showcase new pieces for the {…}
Mark Campbell and Mason Bates’ Grammy-award winning opera “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” will be making a three-city tour next January with stops in Austin, Atlanta, and Kansas City. From Jan. 28-31, audiences in Austin, Texas will witness the famed work at The Long Center for the Performing Arts. Austin Opera will present the production. A few weeks later, the {…}
The Librettist Initiative will appear at OPERA America as part of the New Works Forum on Jan. 16, 2020 in an effort to spread word on its purpose. The group will hold a panel discussion and Q & A with Lynn Nottage, Stephen Schwartz, and Jeanine Tesori and will also feature the premiere of a short film created by librettists Mark Campbell {…}
The Nov. 8th, 2019 performance of Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed’s “As One,” produced by Liz Bouk and directed by Bea Goodwin, was a brilliant display of what a small, tightly-knit artistic team can create using a “less is more” approach. Bouk’s “As One” was staged in a white box theater, using stacked cardboard boxes, a folding table, {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features the classic “The {…}
Fort Worth Opera has announced that it will be world premiering Joe Illick and Mark Campbell’s one-act children’s opera “Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World” on Nov. 16, 2019 at the Rose Marine Theater. The new work will be directed by Octavio Cardenas. It will feature singers from Fort Worth Opera’s Lesley Resident and Studio Programs. This {…}
(Photo credit: Sarah Shatz) Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and the 75th year of New York City Opera (NYCO), general director Michael Capasso debuted the world premiere of the LGBTQI+ focused new opera by Iain Bell and Mark Campbell, “Stonewall” on June 21, 2019. Currently the only opera company that houses a series supporting Pride Month, NYCO {…}