(Photo: Missy Mazzoli is an acclaimed composer of experimental chamber operas whose oeuvre ranges from electronic avant rock to short-form chamber operas. One of the first two women to receive a commission from the Metropolitan Opera, she joined forces with her longtime collaborator, Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrek, to created the highly anticipated “Lincoln in the Bardo,” premiering at the {…}
(Photo credit: The Wilma Theater) The Foundation for Contemporary Arts announced the 23 artists and collectives who will receive its $45,000 Grants to Artists awards. Launched in 1993, the Grants to Artists awards are unrestricted, by-nomination grants that provide recipient artists working in Dance, Music/Sound, Performance Art/Theater, Poetry, and Visual Arts. Winners exemplify contemporary, experimental work being made today. The {…}
The New York Philharmonic has announced The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music. The prize recognizes extraordinary artistic endeavors in the field of new music and this year the award is going to American composers David Lang and Missy Mazzoli. The Kravis Prize includes $200,000 and a commission for a work that the New York Philharmonic will premiere. Lang’s new {…}
(Credit: Marylene Mey) Audiences will get a preview of Missy Mazzoli’s hotly anticipated “Lincoln in the Bardo” on Oct. 28, 2024. The famed composer will be on hand to present a section from her work, which is set for a Metropolitan Opera premiere in 2026, during the Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award in honor of art collector and philanthropist Komal {…}
FringeArts has announced the lineup for the 2024 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. For the purposes of this article only opera performances are included . Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s “The Listeners” makes American premiere with Nicole Heaston and Kevin Burdette. This premiere is co-presented with Opera Philadelphia. Performance Dates: September 25-29, 2024 “We Have Gone As Far As We Can Together” {…}
The winners of the Ensemble for These Times and Luna Composition Lab’s 2023 Call for Scores have been announced to the public. Commission winners are Lucy Chen’s work for cello and piano, Madeine Clara Cheng‘s commission for soprano, cello, piano, and tape, and Caleb Palka’s piece written for soprano and piano. Sage Shurman’s piano trio, “Composure” also receives special recognition, {…}
The first ever “Muffled Voices” festival is set to give the Russian premieres of three American operas by composers Missy Mazzoli, Amy Beach, and Anne LeBaron. Mazzoli’s “Proving Up,” with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, Beach’s “Cabildo,” featuring a libretto by Nan Bagby Stephens, and LeBaron and Thulani Davis’ “Blue Calls Set You Free” are among the ten chamber operas {…}
(Photo Credit: James Glossop) Disability is a tricky subject in opera. Oftentimes, it is chastised as something dirty or mysterious or just down right funny. But in truth, it’s rather serious and a complicated theme to get right. A new opera about the perils of mental illness, love, and genuine belief has tried to reframe this with exceptional results. Composed {…}
(Photo Credit: Kevin Condon) Death of Classical (DOC) and The Alexander S. Onassis Benefit Foundation presented “Waiting for the Barbarians,” a one-night-only concert part of “Archive of Desire: A Festival Inspired by the Poet C.P. Cavafy” curated by prolific composer Paola Prestini and under the creative direction of Afroditi Panagiotakou. This extraordinary gathering took place on May 2nd, 2023 at {…}
Opera Philadelphia is set to celebrate a decade of new opera with a special concert on March 18, 2023. The showcase will bring together eight resident composers and spotlight their music. Among the composers who will be celebrated are Lembit Beecher, Courtney Bryan, David Hertzberg, David T. Little, Missy Mazzoli, Andrew Norman, Rene Orth, and Tyshawn Sorey. The performance will feature such artists as Lawrence Brownlee, who will {…}
Juilliard Opera is set to present Missy Mazzoli’s “Proving Up” on Feb. 15, 2023. The opera, which was written by Royce Vavrek, will be conducted by Steven Osgood and directed by Mary Birnbaum. The work will feature singers from the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts and members the Juilliard Orchestra. There will be additional performances on {…}
