Missy Mazzoli

Last November, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York called for an “artistic reinvention” of the form in an op-ed headlined “How to Save Opera in America? Make It New Again.”

Opera companies battling pandemic losses, audience and donor declines, and competition from streaming media need to find new ways to sustain themselves, Peter Gelb wrote in the New York Times, and that starts on the stage.

Maybe he had that in mind back in 2018, when he commissioned composer Missy Mazzoli to write a new opera for the Met. Mazzoli (CFA’02) seems likely to be a prominent player in opera’s future in America after what anyone would call a pretty good 2024.

MacArthur “Genius” Karen Russell speaks to composer Missy Mazzoli, her friend and operatic partner, about her new novel, The Antidote, and why the Dust Bowl isn’t just an American story.

Future San Francisco Opera seasons will continue to feature new works, including the co-commission of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s The Galloping Cure, examining addiction and the opioid crisis.