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Composer Missy Mazzoli’s Lincoln in the Bardo is scheduled to open at the Metropolitan Opera on October 19, marking the first world premiere there of an opera composed by a woman in the company’s 143-year history, according to Marie Claire. In an essay for the magazine, Mazzoli said women-fronted punk and rock acts shaped her approach to musical drama and helped her find a place in opera.
Composer Missy Mazzoli is set to make history at the Metropolitan Opera with Lincoln in the Bardo, which Marie Claire reports will be the first opera composed by a woman to receive a world premiere at the company in its 143-year history. The work, adapted from George Saunders’ novel with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, is scheduled to open October 19; Mazzoli says women-led punk and rock music helped shape her path to writing opera.
Lincoln in the Bardo takes its title and premise from Saunders’ novel, which imagines Abraham Lincoln visiting the spirit of his dead son at the grave. Mazzoli composed the music, while Royce Vavrek wrote the libretto. The Met premiere marks a milestone for the company, although the source material does not provide production details such as the cast, conductor or number of performances.
In her essay for Marie Claire, Mazzoli describes growing up in rural Pennsylvania and watching MTV from around 1989. She names Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bikini Kill, L7, The Breeders and Sonic Youth among the acts that caught her attention, along with Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi and The Cure. She recalled being drawn to the women’s expressive, rebellious presence and to music videos’ heightened portrayals of emotion.
Mazzoli says she moved from piano lessons and school percussion to punk bands, composition and, later, opera. She and Vavrek wrote her first opera, Song from the Uproar, in her late 20s. In the essay, she says they initially described it as a work of music theater because opera felt like a form in which she did not belong. She later connected opera’s scale and emotional intensity with the dramatic style of the music videos she watched as a teenager.
A Milestone for Women Composers
The premiere places a woman composer at the center of a major new production at one of opera’s most prominent institutions. The distinction is specific: according to the report, this is the first world premiere at the Met of an opera composed by a woman, not the first time the company has staged any opera by a woman.
Mazzoli’s account also links an institutional milestone to the influences she says helped her develop as an artist. Her story challenges a narrow image of opera as a tradition separate from punk, rock and popular video culture. That connection is her own description of her creative path, rather than a claim that all opera composers share the same influences.
The report says Mazzoli has also worked on gender equity through initiatives including Luna Composition Lab, which mentors emerging female and non-binary composers. It cites a figure of about 7 percent for female and non-binary composers among those performed by major orchestras, while saying representation is lower in opera. The source does not specify the study, time period or counting method behind those figures, so they should be read as reported estimates rather than a complete measure of the field.
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From MTV to the Met
Mazzoli writes that she began with chamber and solo compositions, then expanded into orchestral music and film scoring before turning to opera. Her first opera, Song from the Uproar, was also written with Vavrek, who has remained her collaborator. She says she struggled to picture herself in the form because she could not identify celebrated women opera composers at the time.
The Marie Claire report names Ethel Smyth, Kaija Saariaho, Jeanine Tesori and Gabriela Lena Frank as women whose operas have been performed at the Met. That list provides a distinction from the coming premiere: women’s works have appeared at the house, but the report describes Mazzoli’s production as the first world premiere there of an opera by a woman.
The article also identifies Mazzoli as a three-time Grammy nominee and says Musical America named her its 2022 Composer of the Year. These career details offer context for her standing as she brings a new opera to the Met; they do not establish how the production will be received.
“I started to see opera as music video, and vice versa.”
— Missy Mazzoli, in an essay for Marie Claire
Details Still to Be Confirmed
The report gives the opening date as Monday, October 19, but does not state the year. The material also does not establish whether the scheduled date has since changed, or provide current ticketing, cast, production or performance information.
The Met-history description is attributed to Marie Claire’s report and Mazzoli’s essay. The source does not explain how it defines a “world premiere” or detail the historical records used to support the distinction. Its estimate of women and non-binary composers performed by major orchestras also lacks a stated research source and time frame. No audience response, reviews or production outcomes are available in the supplied material.
The October 19 Premiere
The next milestone identified in the report is the scheduled October 19 opening of Lincoln in the Bardo at the Metropolitan Opera. Further reporting would need to confirm the year and whether the date remains current, then establish the production’s cast, creative team, performance schedule and reception. Until those details are available, the confirmed development is the planned premiere and its reported place in the Met’s history.
Key Questions
What is Lincoln in the Bardo about?
It is an opera based on George Saunders’ novel, which imagines Abraham Lincoln visiting the spirit of his deceased son at the grave. Missy Mazzoli composed the music, and Royce Vavrek wrote the libretto.
What makes the Met premiere historic?
Marie Claire reports that it will be the first world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera of an opera composed by a woman during the company’s 143-year history. That is distinct from being the first opera by a woman ever performed at the Met.
How did punk music influence Mazzoli?
In her Marie Claire essay, Mazzoli says women-led punk and rock acts, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bikini Kill and L7, showed her forms of expressive musical drama. She connected their heightened style with opera’s emotional scale.
When is the opera scheduled to open?
The source lists October 19, but does not give the year. The current date and any later schedule changes are not established by the supplied report.
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