Missy Mazzoli facts for kids

Missy Mazzoli after her opera Proving Up premiered at the Kennedy Center in 2018

Missy Mazzoli (born October 27, 1980) is an American composer and pianist. She is known for her amazing music for orchestras, operas, and smaller groups of instruments. In 2018, she made history as one of the first two women to be asked to create a new work for the famous Metropolitan Opera House.

Missy Mazzoli also started and plays keyboards for a band called Victoire. This band mixes electronic sounds with acoustic instruments. From 2012 to 2015, she was a special composer for Opera Philadelphia. She also worked with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music-Theater Group.

Mazzoli has won many awards, including a 2015 Grants to Artists Award and a Fulbright Grant. She has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards for her classical music. In 2018, she became the Mead Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for two seasons. Missy Mazzoli teaches music composition at Bard College and previously taught at the Mannes College of Music. Since 2022, she has been the Bragg Artist-in-Residence at Mount Allison University in Canada. Her music is published by G. Schirmer.

Missy Mazzoli's Education

Missy Mazzoli was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. She earned her bachelor's degree from Boston University's College of Fine Arts. Later, she received her master's degree from the Yale School of Music in 2006. She also studied music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands.

In 2006, Mazzoli taught composition at Yale University. In 2013, she was a guest lecturer at New York University. From 2007 to 2010, she was the executive director of the MATA Festival in New York City. This festival helps new and emerging composers.

Missy Mazzoli's Music and Albums

From 2012 to 2015, Missy Mazzoli was a composer-in-residence with Opera Philadelphia. She also worked with Gotham Chamber Opera and Music Theatre-Group. Before that, in 2011 and 2012, she was a composer and educator for the Albany Symphony.

Mazzoli has released several albums of her music. These include:

• Cathedral City (2010): This album was written for her band, Victoire.
• Song from the Uproar (2012): This is the original recording of her first opera.
• Vespers for a New Dark Age (2015): This work features her band Victoire. It also includes percussionist Glenn Kotche from the band Wilco, and vocalists Martha Cluver, Melissa Hughes, and Virginia Kelsey. Carnegie Hall asked her to create this piece, and it premiered there in 2014.
• Proving Up (2020): This is the original recording of her third opera.
• Dark with Excessive Bright (2023): This album features her orchestral works. It was recorded with the Bergen Philharmonic and the Arctic Philharmonic. This album was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2024. These nominations were for Best Classical Compendium and Best Classical Composition for the main song, a violin concerto.

Missy Mazzoli's Operas

Missy Mazzoli is well-known for her operas. These are big musical stories performed on stage.

SALT

SALT is a short opera, about 20 minutes long. It tells a part of the story of Lot's wife from the Bible. This opera is for a singer, a cello, and electronic sounds. It was performed at the 2012 BAM Next Wave Festival in Brooklyn. It was also shown at UNC Chapel Hill. Cellist Maya Beiser and singer Helga Davis performed it. Robert Woodruff directed SALT, and the words were written by Erin Cressida Wilson.

Song from the Uproar

Mazzoli's first full opera is called Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt. It is based on the life of Isabelle Eberhardt, a Swiss explorer and writer. The opera first opened in New York in March 2012. Missy Mazzoli worked with writer Royce Vavrek, filmmaker Stephen Taylor, and director Gia Forakis on this project.

Critics loved it! The Wall Street Journal called it "powerful and new." The New York Times said that Mazzoli's music showed "the joy, risk, and limitless potential of free spirits unbound." The original recording of Song from the Uproar was released in November 2012. In October 2015, LA Opera presented the opera again.

Breaking the Waves

Mazzoli's opera Breaking the Waves is based on a 1996 film. Royce Vavrek wrote the words for this opera. Opera Philadelphia and Beth Morrison Projects asked Mazzoli to create it. The opera first opened in Philadelphia in September 2016 and received many good reviews.

Opera News said Breaking the Waves was "among the best 21st-century American operas yet produced." Heidi Waleson from The Wall Street Journal praised how Mazzoli's music created a deep picture of the characters. The opera was nominated for an International Opera Award in 2017. It also won the first Music Critics Association of North America Award for Best New Opera in 2017. In 2019, Scottish Opera performed Breaking the Waves on a world tour.

Proving Up

In 2018, Mazzoli's third opera, Proving Up, premiered. She worked again with writer Royce Vavrek. The opera is based on a short story by Karen Russell. Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha, and Miller Theatre asked for this work. It was written for baritone John Moore and soprano Talise Trevigne.

Proving Up is a unique story about the American Dream in the 1870s. It follows homesteaders, people who settled on new land. The Washington Post called it "harrowing...powerful...a true opera of our time." Musical America called it "brilliant." Many universities and opera companies have performed Proving Up.

The Listeners

In 2022, Mazzoli's fourth opera, The Listeners, premiered in Norway. It opened at the Oslo Opera House. The Norwegian National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Lyric Opera of Chicago asked for this opera. Mazzoli worked with Canadian writer Jordan Tannahill, who created the story just for them.

The Listeners tells the story of Claire Devon. Her life changes completely after she starts hearing a mysterious sound called "The Hum." The German premiere of The Listeners will happen in Essen in the spring of 2025.

Lincoln in the Bardo

Missy Mazzoli is also working on an opera called Lincoln in the Bardo. Royce Vavrek wrote the words for it. The opera is based on the popular novel of the same name by George Saunders. New York’s Metropolitan Opera asked for this opera in 2018. It is planned to premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 2026.

The Galloping Cure

In May 2024, it was announced that Mazzoli is creating her sixth opera, The Galloping Cure. She is working with writer Royce Vavrek, writer Karen Russell, and director Tom Morris. This opera is described as a story about greed connected to a serious health issue. San Francisco Opera and Norrlands Opera in Sweden are among the companies supporting this new work.

Music for Movies and TV

Missy Mazzoli has also written music for films and television shows. She wrote and performed several songs for the TV show Mozart in the Jungle. Her song "Impromptu" was featured, and she created other music for a character in the show.

Mazzoli has also contributed music to the documentary Detropia. She also worked on the feature films A Woman, A Part and Loitering with Intent.

Luna Composition Lab

In 2016, Missy Mazzoli and composer Ellen Reid started Luna Composition Lab. This is a non-profit organization that helps young female, non-binary, and gender nonconforming composers. It aims to help more young people from these groups get involved in music composition.

Luna Composition Lab offers mentorship, a supportive community, and chances to perform. It is for composers aged 13 to 18. The organization holds a yearly call for new music and a spring festival. These events show off the works created by their young composers. In 2024, Luna Composition Lab worked with the Kronos Quartet for their 50th anniversary celebration.

Awards and Nominations