Mark Campbell

Biography Lists Also Viewed

The basics

Quick facts

Gender:

Male

The details

Biography

Introduction

Mark Campbell is a New York-based librettist and lyricist whose operas have received both a Pulitzer Prize in Music and a GRAMMY Award. Mark began writing for the stage as a musical theatre lyricist, but turned to libretto-writing after he premiered Volpone, his first full-length opera in 2004 at Wolf Trap Opera Company.

His best-known works are Silent Night, The Shining, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, As One, Later the Same Evening, Stonewall, Elizabeth Cree and the musical Songs from an Unmade Bed. His operas have been produced by most of the prominent opera companies in the U.S., including Atlanta 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 and West Edge Opera.

As an educator, Mark has established libretto-writing programs at the American Opera Project, Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative, American Lyric Theatre and the University of Colorado's New Opera Workshop.

Operas (librettos)

Title	Description	Composer	Co-Librettist	Producing Company
Volpone	A Comic Opera in Two Acts Unfaithfully fashioned from the play by Ben Jonson	John Musto		Wolf Trap Opera
Later the Same Evening	An Opera Inspired by Five Paintings of Edward 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's La 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 by Edgar Allan Poe	Lance Horne		Zipper Theatre
The Girl I Left Behind	An Operatic Monologue based on the Short Story by Dame Muriel Spark	Lance Horne		Zipper Theatre
A Hunger Artist	An Operatic Monologue based on Kafka's The Hunger Artist	Lance Horne		Zipper Theatre
Rappahannock County	A Theatrical Song Cycle about the American 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's The Government Inspector	John Musto		Wolf Trap Opera/Boston Lyrics Opera
Silent Night	An Opera in Two Acts Adapted from the Film Joyeux Noël(screenplay by Christian Carion)	Kevin Puts		Minnesota Opera
The Manchurian Candidate	An Opera in Two Acts Adapted from the novel by Richard Condon	Kevin Puts		Minnesota Opera
A Song for Susan 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 after the novel by Stephen King	Paul Moravec		Minnesota Opera
Approaching Ali	A Family Opera based on Davis Miller's The 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's Decameron	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 by Will 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 by Stephen McCauley	Robert Paterson		American Modern Ensemble
The Good Friar	A Comic Opera in One Act	Martin Hennessy
Elizabeth Cree	An Opera Adapted from the novel The Trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd	Kevin Puts		Opera Philadelphia/Chicago Opera Theatre
Some Light Emerges	A Chamber Opera in One Act about the Rothko Chapel	Laura Kaminsky	Kimberly Reed	Houston Grand Opera/HGOCO
Dinner At Eight	An Opera in Two Acts based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna 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 Enterpriseof 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 novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo	Paola Prestini		Minnesota Opera
The Secret River	An Opera based on the Novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings	Stella Sung		Opera Orlando
Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World	A Children's Opera based on the Book by Laurence Anholt	Joe Illick		Ft. Worth Opera
Supermax	An Opera in 60 Minutes	Stewart Wallace	Michael Korie	Opera Saratoga
again and again. and again.	An Opera based on Corneille's The 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
Stone Soup	A Children's Opera in One Act	Joe Illick		Ft. Worth Opera

Musicals (lyrics)

Title	Description	Composer	Book Writer	Producing Company
Splendora	Based on the book by Edward Swift	Stephen Hoffman	Peter Webb	Bay Street Theatre and American Place Theatre
Songs from an Unmade Bed	A solo theatrical song cycle	18 different composers		New York Theatre Workshop
The Sweet Revenge of Louisa May	Based on several Gothic tales by Louisa 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

Song Cycles (lyrics)

Thoroughfare
Music by Conrad Cummings
Eight Phases of Luna
Music by Kamala Sankaram
Dear Mayor
Music by Mark Baechle
And Another Song Comes On
Music by Ben Moore
Six Christmas Traditions
Music by Jake Heggie
Some Favored Nook
Music by Eric Nathan
Oratorios
Sanctuary Road
Music by Paul Moravec
The Oratorio Society of New York
A Nation of Others
Music by Paul Moravec
The Oratorio Society of New York

Awards and nominations

2019 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording (The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs)
2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music for Silent Night
Dominic J. Peliciotti Opera Award, A Letter to East 11th Street
New York State Council on the Arts Award, Today It Rains
Hewlett Foundation Award, Today It Rains
First recipient of the Kleban Foundation Award for Lyricist
2007 GRAMMY Award nomination for Best Opera Recording for Volpone
Three Drama Desk Award nominations
Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award
New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship
Two Richard Rodgers Awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Multi-Arts Production (MAP) Fund Grant
Sundance Institute Theatre Lab Alumnus, Sundance Institute at Ucross Writer's Retreat, MacDowell Colony Fellow, Hermitage Artists Retreat Fellow

Libretto Mentorship Programs

Mark Campbell has created or helped create opera libretto-writing programs with the following organizations:
The American Opera Project Composers & The Voice
American Lyric Theatre
The American Opera Initiative
University of Colorado New Opera Workshop
Opera Philadelphia's Composer in Residence Program
John Duffy Institute for New Opera

Recordings

Volpone
Wolf Trap Recordings
Music Awake! Choral Music of Paul Moravec
Bach Festival of Winter Park Recordings
The Inspector
Wolf Trap Recordings
Later the Same Evening
Albany Records
Bastianello/Lucrezia
Bridge Records
Songs from an Unmade Bed
Ghostlight Records/Sh-k-boom Records
Rappahannock County
Naxos
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Pentatone
As One
Bright Shiny Things
Sanctuary Road
Naxos
New Words (Andrea Marcovicci)
Cabaret Records
Greenwich Time (Rebecca Luker)
PS Classics
Kiss Me While We Have the Chance (Steve Marzullo)
Yellow Sound
In Celebration of Life
Abrams Gentile
Broadway Bound (Sarah Jessica Parker/Matthew Broderick)
Varèse Sarabande

Jump to