Guest Masterclass: Missy Mazzoli, composer & Royce Vavrek, librettist
Friday, April 18, 2025
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
The Moores School of Music is proud to host internationally-acclaimed composer-librettist duo Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek. All are welcome to attend.
Grammy-nominated composer Missy Mazzoli was recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (The New York Times). In 2018 she 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.
Mazzoli has received considerable acclaim for her operatic compositions. Her most recent opera, The Listeners, (commissioned by Opera Philadelphia, Norwegian National Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera) was created with longtime collaborator Royce Vavrek and playwright Jordan Tannahill and premiered in September 2022 in Oslo in a production directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz.
To learn more about Missy Mazzoli and her accomplishments, please visit missymazzoli.com
Royce Vavrek is a Canada-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist who has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker) a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times), and “one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world” (CBC Radio). His opera “Angel’s Bone” with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
With composer Missy Mazzoli he wrote “Song from the Uproar,” premiered by Beth Morrison Projects in 2012, and subsequently seen in multiple presentations around the country. Their second opera, an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves,” premiered at Opera Philadelphia, co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, and directed by James Darrah to critical acclaim in September of 2016. The work won the 2017 Music Critics Association of North America award for Best New Opera and was nominated for Best World Premiere at the 2017 International Opera Awards.
To learn more about Royce Vavrek and his accomplishments, please visit www.roycevavrek.com
PROGRAM
TBD
Important Construction Update:
As we enhance our campus with the Wilhelmina’s Grove Project and Loop Road Construction, parking and pathways to our venues have been temporarily adjusted. To ensure a smooth visit, please visit our Construction Navigation and Parking website for detailed maps, driving and walking instructions, and the latest updates.
Thank you for your patience and support as we work toward creating a more vibrant, accessible, and welcoming space for all.
- Location
- Dudley Recital Hall
- Cost
- Free
- Contact
- msmprog@central.uh.edu