Mark Campbell is a New York-based librettist and lyricist whose operas have received both aPulitzer Prize in Music[1] and aGRAMMY Award.[2] Mark began writing for the stage as a musical theatre lyricist, but turned to libretto-writing after he premieredVolpone, his first full-length opera in 2004 atWolf Trap Opera Company.[3]
Mark has written 40 opera librettos, lyrics for 7 musicals and text for 6 song cycles and 4 oratorios. His best-known works areSilent Night,[4]The Shining,[5]The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,[6]As One,[7]Later the Same Evening,[8]Stonewall,[9]Elizabeth Cree[10] and the musicalSongs from an Unmade Bed.[11] His operas have been produced by most of the prominent opera companies in the U.S., includingAtlanta Opera,Arizona Opera,Austin Opera,Boston Lyric Opera,Central City Opera,Chicago Opera Theatre,Cincinnati Opera,Des Moines Metro Opera,Ft. Worth Opera,Houston Grand Opera,Hawaii Opera Theatre,Lyric Opera of Kansas City,Michigan Opera Theatre,Minnesota Opera,New Orleans Opera,New York City Opera,Opera Colorado,Opera Memphis, Opera Parallèle,Opera Philadelphia,Pensacola Opera,Pittsburgh Opera,Portland Opera,San Diego Opera,San Francisco Opera,Santa Fe Opera,Seattle Opera, Urban Arias,Utah Opera,Virginia Opera,Washington National Opera andWest Edge Opera.
As an educator, Mark has established libretto-writing programs at theAmerican Opera Project,Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative,American Lyric Theatre and theUniversity of Colorado's New Opera Workshop. In 2022, he created theCampbell Opera Librettist Prize, the first and only award for opera librettists in the history of the art form (administered byOPERA America). In 2022, he co-created, with hisAs One collaborators, theTrue Voice Award to help with the training of transgender and non-binary singers (administered byWashington National Opera'sCafritz Young Artist's Program).
| Title | Description | Composer | Co-Librettist | Producing company |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volpone | A Comic Opera in Two Acts Unfaithfully fashioned fromthe play byBen Jonson | John Musto | Wolf Trap Opera | |
| Later the Same Evening | An Opera Inspired by Five Paintings ofEdward Hopper | John Musto | The University of Maryland School of Music | |
| Bastianello | A Comic Opera Inspired by an Italian Folk Tale | John Musto | New York Festival of Song/Carnegie Hall | |
| Lucrezia | A Comic Opera based on Machiavelli'sLa Mandragola | William Bolcom | New York Festival of Song/Carnegie Hall | |
| A Letter to East 11th Street | An Opera in Two Parts | Martin Hennessy | The American Opera Project/CUNY Crane School of Music | |
| The Tell-Tale Heart | An Operatic Monologue based on the Short Story byEdgar Allan Poe | Lance Horne | Zipper Theatre | |
| The Girl I Left Behind | An Operatic Monologue based on the Short Story by DameMuriel Spark | Lance Horne | Zipper Theatre | |
| A Hunger Artist | An Operatic Monologue based onKafka'sThe Hunger Artist | Lance Horne | Zipper Theatre | |
| Rappahannock County | A Theatrical Song Cycle about theAmerican Civil War | Ricky Ian Gordon | Virginia Opera/Richmond University/University of Texas Performing Arts Center | |
| The Inspector | A Comic Opera in Two Acts Based on Gogol'sThe Government Inspector | John Musto | Wolf Trap Opera/Boston Lyrics Opera | |
| Silent Night | An Opera in Two Acts Adapted from the FilmJoyeux Noël (screenplay byChristian Carion) | Kevin Puts | Minnesota Opera | |
| The Manchurian Candidate | An Opera in Two Acts Adapted fromthe novel byRichard Condon | Kevin Puts | Minnesota Opera | |
| A Song forSusan Smith | An Opera in One Act | Zach Redler | University of Colorado New Opera Workshop | |
| A Dog's Heart | A Short Comic Opera based on Bulgakov's "Heart of a Dog" | Lembit Beecher | Opera Philadelphia | |
| The Shining | An Opera in Two Acts afterthe novel byStephen King | Paul Moravec | Minnesota Opera | |
| Approaching Ali | A Family Opera based onDavis Miller'sThe Tao of Muhammad Ali | D.J. Sparr | Davis Miller | Washington National Opera |
| As One | An Opera for Two Voices and String Quartet | Laura Kaminsky | Kimberly Reed | The American Opera Project/Brooklyn Academy of Music |
| A Flourish of Green | A Mini-Opera based on a Story in Bocaccio'sDecameron | Missy Mizzoli | Opera Philadelphia | |
| The Other Room | A Monologue in One Act | Marisa Michelson | Inner Voices | |
| Memory Boy | A Children's Opera based on the Novel byWill Weaver | Reinaldo Moya | Minnesota Opera | |
| Empty the House | An Opera in One Act | Rene Orth | Curtis School of Music/Opera Philadelphia | |
| The Whole Truth | A Comic Opera based on the Short Story byStephen McCauley | Robert Paterson | American Modern Ensemble | |
| The Good Friar | A Comic Opera in One Act | Martin Hennessy | ||
| Elizabeth Cree | An Opera Adapted from the novelThe Trial of Elizabeth Cree byPeter Ackroyd | Kevin Puts | Opera Philadelphia/Chicago Opera Theatre | |
| Some Light Emerges | A Chamber Opera in One Act about theRothko Chapel | Laura Kaminsky | Kimberly Reed | Houston Grand Opera/HGOCO |
| Dinner At Eight | An Opera in Two Acts based onthe play byGeorge S. Kaufman andEdna Ferber | William Bolcom | Minnesota Opera | |
| The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs | An Opera | Mason Bates | Santa Fe Opera/Seattle Opera/Indiana University Jacobs School of Music/San Francisco Opera | |
| The Nefarious, Immoral But Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare | An Opera in One Act | Julian Grant | Boston Lyric Opera/Music-Theatre Group | |
| The Summer King | An Opera in Two Acts | Daniel Sonenberg | Daniel Nestor | Pittsburgh Opera/American Opera Project |
| Today It Rains | An Opera in One Act | Laura Kaminsky | Kimberly Reed | Opera Parallèle |
| Stonewall | An Opera in One Act | Iain Bell | New York City Opera | |
| Edward Tulane | An Opera in Two Acts after the novelThe Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane byKate DiCamillo | Paola Prestini | Minnesota Opera | |
| The Secret River | An Opera based on the Novel byMarjorie Kinnan Rawlings | Stella Sung | Opera Orlando | |
| Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World | A Children's Opera based on the Book byLaurence Anholt | Joe Illick | Ft. Worth Opera | |
| Supermax | An Opera in 60 Minutes | Stewart Wallace | Michael Korie | Long Beach Opera |
| again and again. and again. | An Opera based onCorneille'sThe Comic Illusion | Conrad Cummings | ||
| A Sweet Silence in Cremona | A Comic Opera in One Act | Roberto Scarcella Perino | New York University/Florence Villa la Pietra,Teatro Comunale Ponchielli[12] | |
| Stone Soup | A Children's Opera in One Act | Joe Illick | Ft. Worth Opera | |
| A Thousand Acres | An opera in two acts based on the novel by Jane Smiley[13] | Kristin Kuster | Des Moines Metro Opera | |
| Bernadette's Cozy Book Nook | A Zoom opera in one act | Joe Illick | Ft. Worth Opera | |
| Unruly Sun | An music-theatre work inspired by Derek Jarman[14]'sModern Nature | Matthew Ricketts | Orchestre classique de Montréal, |
| Title | Description | Composer | Book Writer | Producing company |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Splendora[15] | Based on the book byEdward Swift | Stephen Hoffman | Peter Webb | Bay Street Theatre and American Place Theatre |
| Songs from an Unmade Bed[16] | A solo theatrical song cycle | 18 different composers | New York Theatre Workshop | |
| The Sweet Revenge of Louisa May | Based on several Gothic tales byLouisa May Alcott | Stephen Hoffman | Burton Cohen | Olney Theatre |
| The Audience | A musical written by many authors and composers | Various | Various | The Transport Group |
| And the Curtain Rises | A Musical about The First Musical | Joseph Thalken | Michael Slade | Signature Theatre(DC) |
| Chang & Eng | A Musical about the Siamese Twins | Stephen Hoffman | Burton Cohen | NYMT |
| The Tenants of 3R | Stephen Hoffman | |||
| Irena | A musical about Irena Sendler[17] | Włodek Pawlik | Mary Skinner/ Piotr Piwowarczyk | Teatr Muzyczny w Poznaniu |
| Title | Description | Composer | Producing company | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanctuary Road | An oratorio inspired by the writings of William Still | Paul Moravec | Oratorio Society of New York | |
| A Nation of Others | An oratorio set on a single day at Ellis Island in 1921 | Paul Moravec | Oratorio Society of New York | |
| All Shall Rise | An oratorio about voters' rights | Paul Moravec | Oratorio Society of New York | |
| Émigré | About the Jewish community in Shanghai | Aaron Zigman | [18] |
American Lyric Theatre The American Opera InitiativeUniversity of Colorado New Opera WorkshopOpera Philadelphia's Composer in Residence Program The John Duffy Institute for New Opera