(Photo: Kungliga Operan/Sören Vilks) For obvious reasons, writing a new opera based on a well-known and successful film, especially one with such a reputation as Lars von Trier’s iconic “Melancholia,” is fraught with dangers, not least owing to the unavoidable comparisons to which it will inevitably give rise, but this is exactly what composer Mikael Karlsson and librettist Royce Vavrek {…}
(Credit: Ricardo Beas) When composer Missy Mazzoli went into a meeting with Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb, she hoped for a commission and had one idea to offer: a huge graveyard full of ghosts, built around Abraham Lincoln’s grief. That idea became “Lincoln in the Bardo,” adapted from George Saunders’ novel, with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, with whom {…}
(Photo Courtesy of Factory International) Du Yun and Royce Vavrek’s Pulitzer Prize-winning contemporary opera “Angel’s Bone” is set to make its UK premiere. Together the English National Opera (ENO) and Factory International present the new production directed by Kip Williams. Kantos Chamber Choir and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra are among performers. Vavrek’s libretto explores the dark forces that drive people {…}
(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: ALT) In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the American Lyric Theater (ALT) has announced its gala performance, “Celebrating 20 Years of American Lyric Theater.” The concert program will feature scenes from a wide range of operas by alumni of ALTs Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), including works developed and commissioned by ALT, as well as operas that were {…}
(Photo Credit: Maria Baranova) Armenian-American composer and documentarian Mary Kouyoumdjian’s opera, “Adoration,” is set to makes its west coast premiere in a co-presentation by LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects. Kouyoumdjian was awarded an OPERA America commissioning grant to create an opera adaptation of Armenian filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s “Adoration.” Written in collaboration with librettist Royce Vavrek, the operatic version touches {…}
Against the Grain Theatre has announced the appointment of Royce Vavrek as its new Artistic Director. Vavrek, the librettist behind such works as the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Angel’s Bone” “JFK,” “Breaking the Waves,” “Silent Light,” “Proving Up,” and “The Old Man and the Sea,” takes over for Joel Ivany, the company’s founding Artistic Director. “As our new Artistic Director, Royce brings {…}
(Photo credit: Jill Steinberg at National Sawdust) National Sawdust’s 10th Anniversary opening season kicked off with Artistic Director/Co-Founder & composer Paola Prestini and librettist Royce Vavrek‘s foley chamber opera world premiere “Silent Light,” featuring director & scenic designer Thaddeus Strassberger and conductor Christopher Rountree. The cast includes powerhouse soprano Brittany Renee as Esther, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch as Johan, soprano Julia {…}
Photo: Maria Baranova Prototype Festival presented “Adoration” at New York City’s The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture on January 12th, 2024. It was an innovative opera, featuring both voices, an amplified string quartet, and technical sound engineering, composed by Mary Kouyoumdjian with a libretto by Royce Vavrek. This world premiere, shockingly timely, challenged audience members to examine bias while {…}
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 {…}
The Voices of Ascension and the Young People’s Chorus of NYC performed composer Paola Prestini’s ‘The Glass Box’ in a highly anticipated program at the Church of the Ascension on November 9th. Prestini composed ‘The Glass Box’ in 2018, with text written by Royce Vavrek as an oratorio about young refugees in Sweden. This new work challenges perspectives and promotes {…}