About the Composer & Librettist
Paul Moravec, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Music, has composed over two hundred orchestral, opera, chamber, choral, and lyric compositions.
Frequently commissioned by notable ensembles and major music institutions, Paul's upcoming premieres include Songs of Nature, with Amor Artis chorus and Eddie Barbash, alto sax, in NYC on March 3, 2024 and All Shall Rise, about the history of voting rights in America, to a libretto by Mark Campbell, for the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall in May, 2025. Recent seasons have included the premiere A Nation of Others, to a libretto by Mark Campbell, with Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall; The Shining at Minnesota Opera, based on the Stephen King novel, and the premiere of Sanctuary Road , an oratorio about the Underground Railroad, with OSNY at Carnegie Hall. Other recent premieres include the song cycle Tell All the Truth for mezzo Raehann Bryce-Davis; Light Shall Lift Us, an online OPERA America anthem for 100+ opera soloists and virtual orchestra; A New Country, with mezzo Jennifer Cano and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival; The Overlook Hotel Suite, with American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
Upcoming events: Sanctuary Road, Virginia Opera, Jan. 26- Feb. 11, 2024 in Norfolk, Fairfax, and Richmond. Sanctuary Road, Bach Festival Society, Feb. 17/18, 2024, Winter Park, FL. Songs of Nature, Amor Artis/Eddie Barbash, March 3, 2024, St. Patrick's Basilica, NYC. Scherzo, Louis Moreau Institute, March 20, 24, 2024, New Orleans, LA. Sanctuary Road, Princeton Pro Music, May 5, 2024,Princeton, NJ.Mr. Moravec’s discography includes the GRAMMY-nominated Sanctuary Road, with Oratorio Society of NY on Naxos. He has two albums with Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP Sound): The Blizzard Voices, an oratorio about the Children's Blizzard of 1888, and Northern Lights Electric, an album of his orchestral music. He has five other albums on Naxos American Classics: Tempest Fantasy, performed by Trio Solisti with clarinetist David Krakauer; The Time Gallery, performed by eighth blackbird; Cool Fire, with the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival; Useful Knowledge, with soprano Amy Burton, baritone Randall Scarlata, Trio Solisti, and la Fenice Quintet; and Violin Concerto, with Maria Bachmann and Rossen Milanov’s Symphony in C.
Among his many other recorded works are: Double Action, Evermore, and Ariel Fantasy, performed by the Bachmann/Klibonoff Duo (Endeavour Classics); Sonata for Violin and Piano performed by the Bachmann/Klibonoff Duo (BMG/RCA Red Seal); Atmosfera a Villa Aurelia and Vince & Jan, performed by the Lark Quartet (Endeavour Classics); Morph, performed by the String Orchestra of New York (Albany); Anniversary Dances, with the Ying Quartet (Dorian Records); Cornopean Airs, with American Brass Quintet and organist Colin Fowler; and Andy Warhol Sez, with bassoonist Peter Kolkay and pianist Alexandra Nguyen. Other releases include Blue Fiddle, with Hilary Hahn on Deutsche Grammophon, and Piano Quintet, with Jeremy Denk and the Lark Quartet, on Bridge Records.
Besides the Pulitzer Prize, Paul's music has earned numerous distinctions, including the Rome Prize Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, three awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University, he has taught at Columbia, Dartmouth, and Hunter College and currently holds the special position of University Professor at Adelphi University. He was reccently Paul Fromm Composer-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome, served as Artist-in-Residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, and also elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society. His work is published by Subito Music, available at www.subitomusic.com
Bio from www.paulmoravec.com.
The Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winning operas of librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell are among the most successful in the contemporary canon. A prolific writer, Mark has created 40 opera librettos, lyrics for 7 musicals, and the text for 9 song cycles and 4 oratorios.
Mark’s best-known opera is Silent Night, which received a Pulitzer Prize in Music and, along with his opera As One, is one of the most frequently produced operas in recent history. The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, an audience favorite, received a 2018 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording. Mark's other successful works include The Shining, Sanctuary Road, Stonewall, Later the Same Evening, The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare, The Manchurian Candidate, Approaching Ali, The Secret River, A Letter to East 11th Street, Dinner at Eight, Volpone, Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World, Stone Soup, and Bastianello/Lucrezia.
His musicals include Songs from an Unmade Bed, The Audience and Splendora. He has also created a new adaptation of Stravinsky/Ramuz's The Soldier's Story.
Recent premieres include: A Nation of Others for the Oratorio Society of New York, Edward Tulane for Minnesota Opera, A Sweet Silence in Cremona for the Villa la Pietra–Continuum Theater and Teatro Comunale Ponchielli, A Thousand Acres for Des Moines Metro Opera, A Year to the Day for The Violin Channel, Irena for the Teatr Muzyczny w Poznaniu and Unruly Sun for Orchestre classique de Montréal.
Mark has received many other prestigious prizes for his work, including the first Kleban Foundation Award for Lyricist, three Grammy nominations for Best Classical Recording, two Richard Rodgers Awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, three Drama Desk nominations, a Jonathan Larson Foundation Award, a New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, the first Dominic J. Pelliciotti Award, and a grant from the New York State Council of the Arts.
Recordings of his works include: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Pentatone), Sanctuary Road (Naxos), Silent Night (Naxos), As One (Bright Shiny Things), Volpone (Wolf Trap Records), Bastianello/Lucrezia (Bridge), Rappahannock County (Naxos), Later the Same Evening (Albany) and Songs from an Unmade Bed (Ghostlight).
Mark is also an advocate for contemporary American opera and serves as a mentor for future generations of writers through such organizations as American Opera Projects, American Lyric Theatre, and Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative. In 2020, he created and is funding the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, the first and only award for opera librettists. The award is given annually and administered by OPERA America. In 2022, he helped create and is funding the True Voice Award, administered by Washington National Opera, to help with the training of transgender opera singers.
Future premieres include Supermax for Long Beach Opera and The Cook-Off for Chicago Opera Theatre.
Bio from www.markcampbellwords.com