American librettist
Mark Campbell is a New York-based librettist and lyricist whose operas have received both a Pulitzer Prize in Music[1] and a GRAMMY Award.[2] Mark began writing for the stage as a musical theatre lyricist, but turned to libretto-writing after he premiered Volpone, his first full-length opera in 2004 at Wolf Trap Opera Company.[3]
Mark has written 40 opera librettos, lyrics for 7 musicals and text for 6 song cycles and 4 oratorios. His best-known works are Silent Night,[4] The Shining,[5] The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,[6] As One,[7] Later the Same Evening,[8] Stonewall,[9] Elizabeth Cree[10] and the musical Songs from an Unmade Bed.[11] His operas have been produced by most of the prominent opera companies in the U.S., including Atlanta Opera, Arizona Opera, Austin Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Michigan Opera Theatre, Minnesota Opera, New Orleans Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Memphis, Opera Parallèle, Opera Philadelphia, Pensacola Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Portland Opera, San Diego Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, Urban Arias, Utah Opera, Virginia Opera, Washington National Opera and West Edge Opera.
As an educator, Mark has established libretto-writing programs at the American Opera Project, Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative, American Lyric Theatre and the University of Colorado's New Opera Workshop. In 2022, he created the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, the first and only award for opera librettists in the history of the art form (administered by OPERA America). In 2022, he co-created, with his As One collaborators, the True Voice Award to help with the training of transgender and non-binary singers (administered by Washington National Opera's Cafritz Young Artist's Program).
Operas (librettos)
Musicals (lyrics)
Oratorios (text)
Song cycles (lyrics)
- Thoroughfare
Music by Conrad Cummings - Eight Phases of Luna[19]
Music by Kamala Sankaram - Dear Mayor
Music by Mark Baechle - And Another Song Comes On
Music by Ben Moore - Six Christmas Traditions
Music by Jake Heggie - Some Favored Nook
Music by Eric Nathan - The Nothing Lamp Music by Joseph N. Rubinstein
- A Year to the DayA dramatic song cycle for tenor, violin, cello and piano Lembit Beecher The Violin Channel
Awards and nominations
Libretto mentorship programs
Mark Campbell has created or helped create opera libretto-writing programs with the following organizations
American Lyric Theatre The American Opera InitiativeUniversity of Colorado New Opera Workshop Opera Philadelphia's Composer in Residence Program The John Duffy Institute for New Opera
Recordings
- Volpone
Wolf Trap Recordings - Music Awake! Choral Music of Paul Moravec
Bach Festival of Winter Park Recordings - The Inspector
Wolf Trap Recordings - Later the Same Evening
Albany Records - Bastianello/Lucrezia
Bridge Records - Songs from an Unmade Bed
Ghostlight Records/Sh-k-boom Records - Rappahannock County
Naxos - The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Pentatone - As One
Bright Shiny Things - Sanctuary Road
Naxos - Silent Night Naxos
- New Words (Andrea Marcovicci)
Cabaret Records - Greenwich Time (Rebecca Luker)
PS Classics - Kiss Me While We Have the Chance (Steve Marzullo)
Yellow Sound - In Celebration of Life
Abrams Gentile - Broadway Bound (Sarah Jessica Parker/Matthew Broderick)
Varèse Sarabande
References
- ^ "Pulitzer Prize for Music Winners". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "'The (R)evolution Of Steve Jobs' Wins The Grammy – Opera Wire". operawire.com. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "Opera | Wolf Trap". www.wolftrap.org. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Tommasini, Anthony (2013-02-11). "Tenors Amid the Turmoil of War in the Trenches". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "Even Scarier Than The Book Or Movie: 'The Shining' Is Now An Opera". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "Sing Different: Steve Jobs' Life Becomes An Opera". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "As One". AOP. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (2008-12-15). "Edward Hopper's Paintings Spring to Operatic Life at Manhattan School of Music". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Barone, Joshua (2019-06-23). "Review: A 'Stonewall' Opera Reflects the Diversity of Queer History". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ Philadelphia, Opera. "Elizabeth Cree". Opera Philadelphia. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "NYTW / Songs from an Unmade Bed". NYTW. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
- ^ "Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli of Cremona: history, events, initatives". Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
- ^ "Jane Smiley", Wikipedia, 2022-12-16, retrieved 2023-01-22
- ^ "Derek Jarman", Wikipedia, 2023-01-19, retrieved 2023-01-22
- ^ "She's a He: Musical Splendora Gets Revised NYC Revival Feb. 8". Playbill. 2000-01-17. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
- ^ Dale, Michael. "Songs From An Unmade Bed: Comfy and Playful". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
- ^ "Irena Sendler", Wikipedia, 2022-10-20, retrieved 2023-01-22
- ^ "Aaron Zigman's 'Émigré' oratorio, about Jews who fled Nazi Germany for Shanghai, has US premiere". AP News. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "EIGHT PHASES OF LUNA". Kamala Sankaram. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
External links
