The Guggenheim's 'Works & Process' Series to Preview BREAKING THE WAVES Opera

On Monday, September 12, 2016, Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents discussion with the creators and excerpts of Opera Philadelphia's upcoming world premiere of Breaking the Waves by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek.

Based on the 1996 Academy Award-nominated film by Lars von Trier, the chamber opera tells the story of a couple's sacrificial love. Before Opera Philadelphia's world premiere (September 22-October 1, 2016), cast members will perform excerpts from the piece and David B. Devan, General Director & President of Opera Philadelphia will discuss the creative process with Mazzoli and Vavrek along with director James Darrah and conductor Steven Osgood.

Breaking the Waves is co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, which presents the opera's New York premiere January 6-9, 2017 during PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

For a video preview with the creators visit www.operaphila.org/waves.

Tickets & Venue: $40, $35 Guggenheim members and Friends of Works & Process. Box Office (212) 423-3575, (M-F, 1-5pm) or online at worksandprocess.org. Performances at the Peter B. Lewis Theater, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York.

Program

His Name is Jan - Bess/String Quartet

Map of Jan's Body - Bess & Jan/Piano

Goodness what powers - Dr. Richardson/Piano

Love will keep me alive - Bess & Jan/String Quartet

Act 3 Scene 1: Bess & Mother/String Quartet/Piano

Epilogue - Jan/String Quartet/Piano

Singers

Soprano Kiera Duffy (Bess)

Baritone John Moore (Jan)

Tenor David Portillo (Dr. Richardson)

Soprano Patricia Schuman (Bess's Mother)

Pianist Lisa Keller

Panel

David B. Devan, General Director & President of Opera Philadelphia

Missy Mazzoli, Composer

Royce Vavrek, Librettist

James Darrah, Director

Steven Osgood, Conductor

Missy Mazzoli was recently deemed "one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York" (The New York Times), "Brooklyn's post-millennial Mozart" (Time Out New York) and "one of the new wave of scarily smart young composers" (sequenza21.com). Her music has been performed all over the world by the Kronos Quartet, eighth blackbird, pianist Emanuel Ax, the Detroit Symphony, the LA Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, JACK Quartet, Opera Philadelphia, New York City Opera, cellist Maya Beiser, violinist Jennifer Koh, pianist Kathleen Supové, Dublin's Crash Ensemble, the Sydney Symphony and many others. She is currently Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia, Gotham Chamber Opera and Music Theatre-Group, and in 2011/12 was Composer/Educator in residence with the Albany Symphony. Missy was a visiting professor of music at New York University in 2013, and recently joined the composition faculty at the Mannes College of Music, a division of the New School.

Royce Vavrek is a Canadian-born Brooklyn-based librettist, playwright, musical theatre writer and filmmaker known for his collaborations with composers David T. Little, Missy Mazzoli, Ricky Ian Gordon and Du Yun, soprano Lauren Worsham, producers Beth Morrison and Lawrence Edelson, and conductors Steven Osgood, Julian Wachner and Alan Pierson. He has been called "the indie Hofmannsthal," "a kind of Metastasio of the downtown opera scene," and "an exemplary creator of operatic prose.

Opera Philadelphia is committed to embracing innovation and developing opera for the 21st century. Our mission: delivering outstanding productions of traditional and new repertoire that engage our public and propel our genre forward; identifying extraordinary artists, both established and emerging, and provide opportunities for them to create their most imaginative and inspired work; and presenting innovative programming relevant to the multi-cultural Philadelphia region that broadens and diversifies the opera audience.

For over 31 years and in over 400 productions, New Yorkers have been able to see, hear, and meet the most acclaimed artists in the world, in an intimate setting unlike any other. Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to generations of leading creators and performers. Each performance takes place in the Guggenheim's intimate Frank Lloyd Wright-designed 285-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater. Described bythe New York Times as "an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process," Works & Process is produced by founder Mary Sharp Cronson. For more, visit worksandprocess.org.