Royce Vavrek

Royce Vavrek
Born Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Residence Brooklyn, New York; Grande Prairie, Alberta
Nationality Canadian
Occupation librettist, bookwriter, lyricist, filmmaker
Years active 2002–present
Notable work Dog Days, 27, Breaking the Waves, JFK, Angel's Bone

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 "Metastasio of the downtown opera scene," "an exemplary creator of operatic prose," and "one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world."[1][2][3][4]

His opera Angel's Bone with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.[5]

Life and work

Born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, Vavrek studied piano and musical composition in high school and also sang in a chorus, but was even more drawn to writing for theatre, writing some 17 plays at that time, and filmmaking.[6] But following an undergraduate degree in filmmaking from Concordia University and a master's from New York University in musical theater writing,[7] he enrolled in the American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program which established his career as an opera librettist.[6]

His work has been presented at or performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, New York City Opera, The Kitchen, Alarm Will Sound, International Contemporary Ensemble, Opera America, American Lyric Theater, Beth Morrison Projects, Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Peak Performances @ Montclair, among others. His recent commissions include operas for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Houston Grand Opera and the Prototype Festival, along with a musical for Signature Theater. Vavrek's filmmaking credits include From Sky and Soil, which was created as part of the Corus Young Filmmakers Initiative for broadcast on the W Network, through a prize administered by the Canadian Film and Television Production Association.

Artistic influences and comparisons

Vavrek has suggested that his work is heavily influenced by cinematic auteurs including Neil LaBute, Lars von Trier, Catherine Breillat, Wong Kar-Wai, Mike Leigh, Larry Clark, playwrights Martin McDonagh and Sam Shepard, novelists Richard Ford, Miriam Toews and Larry McMurtry and Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards.[8][9][10][11]

His libretti have been compared to the work of Alban Berg, Maya Angelou and Edward Albee.[12][13][14]

Opera libretti

Musical theater book and lyrics

Oratorios, cantatas, and song cycles

Selected songs and concert works

Films

Awards and nominations

Year Award Cateogory Work Result
2017 Music Critics Association of North America Award[50] Best New Opera Breaking the Waves Won

The Coterie

With soprano Lauren Worsham, Vavrek is the co-founder and co-artistic director of downtown opera-theater company The Coterie. Through a series of concerts that often function as incubators for larger projects, the company has presented world premieres by many young operatic and musical theater composers including Rachel Peters, Jeff Myers, Kyle Jarrow, Paola Prestini, Cristian Amigo, Matt Marks, Mark Baechle, Christine Donkin, Joshua Schmidt, Julia Meinwald and Andrew Gerle. In December 2012, the company will premiere new works by Aaron Roche, Mel Marvin, Zach Redler, Aaron Gervais and Conrad Winslow alongside new projects from many returning contributors.[51] Among the many performers to lend their talents to the company are Tony Award-winner Chuck Cooper, Tony nominee Barbara Walsh, actress-singers Theresa McCarthy and Morgan James and actor-singers Greg Hildreth and Zachary James.[52][53]

References

  1. ↑ Osnos, Evan. "Fully Committed". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  2. ↑ Midgette, Anne. "At an opera festival, tales of drug cartels. At opera houses, same old song.". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  3. ↑ "Critics Weigh In on Standout Operas of Recent Decades". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  4. ↑ "Far from the farm, Albertan carves out opera niche in New York City".
  5. ↑ http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/du-yun
  6. 1 2 "So Many Juicy, Amazing Words: A Conversation with Royce Vavreck" by Frank J. Oteri, NewMusicBox, Published: January 1, 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Kaleidoscopic World of Royce Vavrek" by Heidi Waleson, Opera News, April 2015
  8. ↑ "Royce Vavrek: So Many Juicy, Amazing Words".
  9. ↑ "“Kendrick, wanna write an opera with me??”: An Interview with Royce Vavrek". 5 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Interview: Royce Vavrek on Writing the Libretti for the Operas "Dog Days" and "Angel's Bone" - StageBuddy.com". 14 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "The Operating System".
  12. ↑ "Opera Philadelphia’s presents Missy Mazzoli’s ‘Breaking the Waves’ (first review) - Broad Street Review".
  13. ↑ American, Chris King Of The St. Louis. "Opera Theatre St. Louis stages flawless commissioned portrait of Gertrude Stein".
  14. ↑ "Fighting for Survival, Like Animals". The New York Times. 4 October 2012.
  15. ↑ http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/David-T-Little-Vinkensport-or-The-Finch-Opera/101894
  16. ↑ "Song From The Uproar at the Kitchen". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  17. ↑ James Jorden (2016-01-14). "High Notes: Raw, Powerful New Operas Tackle Human Trafficking, Sexual Deviancy". New York Observer. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  18. ↑ Waleson, Heidi (2014-06-23). "Opera Review: Gertrude Stein in St. Louis". WSJ.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  19. ↑ Waleson, Heidi (2015-09-28). "O Columbia and Sweeney Todd Reviews". WSJ.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  20. ↑ "In Angels Bone Terrified Seraphim at the Mercy of Mortals". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  21. ↑ Lee, Wayne (2016-04-25). "Hallucination, Assassination and Orchestration: JFK the Opera Comes to Fort Worth". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  22. ↑ "Philadelphia Will Mount Breaking The Waves Adaptation". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  23. ↑ https://americansongbook.org/assets/img/downloads/02-18%20Coffin.pdf
  24. ↑ Mertes, Micah (2016-04-11). "To mark 60th birthday, Opera Omaha will launch spring festival in 2018 | GO - Arts & entertainment". Omaha.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  25. ↑ "Midwestern Gothic — Signature Theatre". Sigtheatre.org. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  26. ↑ "Brooklyn Philharmonic and Brooklyn Youth Chorus at Roulette". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  27. ↑ http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/7776/Music/cutting-edge-concerts-new-music-festival-2013
  28. ↑ "MasterVoices to Open 75th Season with New York Premiere of 27 This Fall". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  29. ↑ "Celebrate Brooklyn Summer Line-up". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  30. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeG4UBrWVno
  31. ↑ http://www.playbill.com/article/cooper-mccarthy-james-and-moore-will-sing-for-the-coterie-at-joes-pub-com-164292
  32. ↑ https://mattmarksmusic.com/2010/11/16/red-thread-smirk/
  33. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/arts/music/orchestra-of-st-lukes-at-carnegie-hall-and-more.html
  34. ↑ http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/mizzou-new-music-summer-festival-wrap/
  35. ↑ http://www.lehman.edu/academics/arts-humanities/music/mollymorkoski.php
  36. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/arts/music/brooklyn-philharmonic-and-brooklyn-youth-chorus-at-roulette.html
  37. ↑ http://operaamerica.org/content/about/Publications/songbook/details2.aspx?id=22
  38. ↑ http://www.wnyc.org/story/254263-the-brooklyn-philharmonic-at-the-winter-garden/
  39. ↑ https://aarongervais.com/music/mural/
  40. ↑ http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwclassical/article/AN-EVENING-WITH-THE-COTERIE-Features-13-Premieres-by-13-Composers-1215-20121214
  41. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/racheljpeters/monkey-cowboys
  42. ↑ https://www.eamdc.com/psny/composers/hannah-lash/works/violations/#media
  43. ↑ http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/strip-mall-world-premiere-la-phil-co-commission-piece-uses-adult-language-matt-marks
  44. ↑ http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Marc-Kudisch-Joins-Katie-Thompson-and-More-in-The-Coterie-DOWNTOWNUPTOWN-99-20130827
  45. ↑ http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Marc-Kudisch-Joins-Katie-Thompson-and-More-in-The-Coterie-DOWNTOWNUPTOWN-99-20130827
  46. ↑ http://www.theoperatingsystem.org/3rd-annual-303030-day-12-royce-vavrek-on-kathleen-edwards/
  47. ↑ http://jeffmyersmusic.com/music/music.htm
  48. ↑ http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/1165128.html
  49. ↑ http://tntoday.utk.edu/2015/09/16/symphony-present-academic-premiere-knoxville-summer-2015/
  50. ↑ http://classicalvoiceamerica.org/2017/06/20/new-opera-award-goes-to-mazzoli-vavrek-for-waves/
  51. ↑ "An Evening with the Coterie". brownpapertickets.com.
  52. ↑ BWW News Desk. "The Coterie Un/Plugged, Volume One: Lauren Worsham and Friends Premieres at the Canal Room, 2/22". BroadwayWorld.com.
  53. ↑ "Cooper, McCarthy, James and Moore Will Sing for the Coterie at Joe's Pub". Playbill.
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