ARTIST AVATAR
Composer
Missy Mazzoli
United States

About

Biography

Missy Mazzoli is making her HGO debut. Breaking the Waves, her second opera and one of her many collaborations with librettist Royce Vavrek, made its acclaimed world premiere in 2016. Mazzoli’s music has been performed all over the world by the Kronos Quartet, eighth blackbird, pianist Emanuel Ax, Opera Philadelphia, Scottish Opera, LA Opera, Cincinnati Opera, New York City Opera, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, and many other eminent soloists and ensembles. Mazzoli’s most recent opera, The Listeners (commissioned by Opera Philadelphia, Norwegian National Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera), was created with Vavrek and playwright Jordan Tannahill and premiered in 2022 in Oslo in a production directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. Another upcoming project with Vavrek is Lincoln in the Bardo, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by George Saunders and commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. In 2018, Mazzoli made history when she became one of the two first women (along with composer Jeanine Tesori) to be commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. That year she was also nominated for a Grammy in the category of “Best Classical Composition” for her work Vespers for Violin, recorded by violinist Olivia De Prato. Proving Up, commissioned by Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha, and New York’s Miller Theatre, premiered at the Kennedy Center in January 2018. Earlier projects include Mazzoli’s much-acclaimed operas Song from the Uproar (2012). Mazzoli has also earned renown as a composer for film and television, and she is an active pianist and keyboardist.