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 {…}
The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the winners of the 2023 Charles Ives Opera Prize and the Marc Blitzstein Memorial Awards. This year the $50,000 Charles Ives Opera Prize was awarded to “Artemisia” by composer Laura Elise Schwendinger and librettist Ginger Strand. The opera is based on the life of 17th-century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi and premiered at {…}
Opera Steamboat has announced its 2023 season. The company revealed that it will present performances of Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” and Missy Mazzoli’s “Proving Up” between August 5 and 13, 2023. The mainstage productions will take place at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp. The organization also revealed that it would be shifting direction and will start to pay participants {…}
This week audiences will get to hear various world premiere recordings, a tenor singing Donizetti and Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Emily & Sue Adhyâropa Records is set to release a cappella pop-opera album from L.A.-based composer Dana Kaufman and librettist Aiden K. Feltkamp. The work will feature soprano Jasmine Muhammad and Iris Vocal Trio. This piece focuses on the little-known romantic {…}
The Norwegian National Opera is set to present the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s “The Listeners” starting on Sept. 24, 2022. The opera, which runs through Oct. 9, will be directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, the Resident Director at Lincoln Center Theater. Ilan Volkov will conduct a cast starring Nicole Heaston, Simon Neal, Eirik Grøvedt, and Frøy Hovland. {…}
The Los Angeles Opera will co-present, in collaboration with Opera Philadelphia, an online broadcast of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s “Breaking the Waves.” “Breaking the Waves” will be available for free through the LA Opera’s streaming platform, first for subscribers from March 12 to 18 and then to the general public from March 19 until April 12, 2021. It will {…}