1 week Ago By Vince Carey
Missy Mazzoli believes she was born a composer. Mazzoli, described as a “post-millennial Mozart,” started writing music when she was 10 years old while sitting in her Lansdale home playing the piano. “I really started writing when I was about 10,” Mazzoli said.
“As I got older, I really wanted to tell stories through my work. So, opera was sort of a natural fit. And I fell in love with the theater.
So as a composer, if you want to work in theater, opera is kind of the way to go.” Mazzoli’s newest opera “The Listeners” will be featured by Opera Philadelphia Sept. 25-29 at the Academy of Music.
Tickets are available at . “It is the realization of a personal dream to work at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia,” said , a graduate of North Penn High School. “I have a clear memory of walking by that building as a teenager and thinking, ‘One day, my music will be performed here.
’ ‘The Listeners’ was a fantastic project to debut with Norwegian National Opera in 2022 and I cannot wait to bring it to the U.S. with my hometown company, Opera Philadelphia.
” Based on an original story by Canadian writer Jordan Tannahill, “The Listeners” is inspired by an actual phenomenon called “the global hum,” a low-pitched sound that 4% of the global population claim to hear. Tannahill’s story became a best-selling novel in 2021 and is being adapted into a limited BBC television series by Element Pictures (“Normal People,” “Poor Things”) starring Rebecca Hall. “The Listeners” examines the lengths to which Americans are willing to go to find a sense of place and purpose, and the way in which confident, charming leaders can exploit these needs to their own ends.
The story centers on a middle-class mother living in a southwestern U.S. suburb who notices a “hum,” a high-frequency environmental noise that only a select few people, the “Listeners,” can hear.
A community organization quickly forms to solve the mystery of the hum, but when the de facto leader suggests a spiritual significance, the meetings become increasingly cult-like. Is this community of “Listeners” on a collision course with destruction? “It’s both a psychological thriller and an intimate portrait of modern family life,” said Mazzol, who’s first opera “Breaking the Waves” premiered in 2016. “From the first words that are sung — ‘This is how we live now.
Unbelievable.’ — to the shocking final twist, this piece has been a joy to write and a thrill to bring to life with our amazing creative team, led by director Lileana Blain-Cruz. Jordan Tannahill’s story and Royce Vavrek’s libretto cut through to the reality of the chaos and longing that roils underneath every seemingly ‘normal’ family, and in the hearts of everyone who dares to pursue their true destiny.
” Mazzoli, was nominated for two Grammys in 2024 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for “Dark With Excessive Bright,” which is a concerto for contrabass or violin and string orchestra. “I play piano, so a lot of my work starts with improvisation, coming up with interesting chords,” said Mazzoli. “I like to try things and play things and create sounds.
I’ll come up with a melody that really feels right and then I’ll elaborate it. so I write it all out for piano, and then there’s a point at which I will orchestrate it and I’ll write it for the orchestra.” Throughout her career, Mazzoli is trying to show that music is for everybody.
“I see my role to inspire younger people, particularly young women,” Mazzoli said. “I want to show people that this kind of art can reflect the society in which we all live. I make work about what’s resonating with contemporary society.
I think that’s what people want to see. “I think, particularly in America, the arts are not supported by the government the way that they are in Europe and other parts of the world. So, that poses a lot of challenges in terms of getting people in the door.
It’s really interesting working with Opera Philadelphia, because they just instituted this $11 ticket policy. I think it will go a long way toward getting people in who have this idea that opera is too expensive.” Mazzoli also talked about pioneering a path for women.
“It’s definitely changed a lot since I was younger,” Mazzoli said. “You know, I’m 43, but even like 10-15 years ago, women were not celebrated. I would also add non-binary people and composers of color.
It was a very narrow group of people who were seen as composers and who sort of fit the bill. Now, I think that that’s expanding, which is very exciting. “I think when you’re younger you will be criticized for doing things that make you stand out, but when you’re a professional you’ll be applauded for that.
I think it’s just about holding on and staying in the game until you get to the point where people are celebrating you for what makes you different.” As “The Listeners” hits the stage, Mazzoli is not slowing down. “I’m just about to finish a new opera for the Metropolitan Opera in New York,” Mazzoli said.
“So that will premiere in just about two years. I’m writing another opera for the Scottish Opera. Then I’m just writing a lot of other smaller works for pianists and string quartets and a lot of smaller scale stuff, too.
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