Collectibles

Item Description

The winning bidder will receive a handwritten page of the aria "A Lucky Man" from the opera JFK. This one of a kind item was created specifically by composer David T. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek for this auction. 

About David T. Little

David T. Little is “one of the most imaginative young composers” on the scene, a “young radical” (The New Yorker), with “a knack for overturning musical conventions” (The New York Times). His operas JFKv(Royce Vavrek, librettist; Fort Worth Opera / Opéra de Montréal / American Lyric Theater), Dog Days (Royce Vavrek, librettist; Peak Performances / Beth Morrison Projects), and Soldier Songs (Prototype Festival) have been widely acclaimed, “prov[ing] beyond any doubt that opera has both a relevant present and a bright future” (The New York Times).  www.davidtlittle.com

About Royce Vavrek

Royce Vavrek is a Canada-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist who has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker) a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times), and “one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world” (CBC Radio).  His opera “Angel’s Bone” with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

With composer Missy Mazzoli he wrote “Song from the Uproar,” premiered by Beth Morrison Projects in 2012, and subsequently seen in multiple presentations around the country. Their second opera, an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves,” premiered at Opera Philadelphia to critical acclaim in September of 2016. The work won the 2017 Music Critics Association of North America award for Best New Opera and was nominated for Best World Premiere at the 2017 International Opera Awards. Their next opera, an adaptation of Karen Russell’s short story “Proving Up,” was commissioned by Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha and The Miller Theatre, and will be presented by the three institutions in 2018.  They are currently developing a grand opera for a future season at Opera Philadelphia.

His collaboration with composer David T. Little led Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal to proclaim them “one of the most exciting composer-librettist teams working in opera today.”  In April of 2016 they premiered their first grand opera, “JFK,” at Fort Worth Opera, a co-commission with American Lyric Theater and Opéra de Montréal that was called “ravishing” (Opera News), earning a ten-star review in Opera Now Magazine.  This followed the success of their first opera, “Dog Days,” which received its world premiere in September of 2012 at Peak Performances @ Montclair, in a production co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects and directed by American maverick Robert Woodruff.  The work was celebrated as the Classical Music Event of the year by Time Out New York and a standout opera of recent decades by The New York Times.  They are currently developing an original work for the Metropolitan Opera through the Met/LCT commissioning program.

www.roycevavrek.com

About JFK

JFK is an opera in two acts by American composer David T. Little, with an English-language libretto by Royce Vavrek. The opera's story is based on the final night of American president John F. Kennedy's life that was spent in at the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth, prior to his assassination in Dallas, on November 22, 1963.

Commissioned by Fort Worth Opera, Opéra de Montréal, and American Lyric Theater, JFK received its premiere at Fort Worth Opera on April 23, 2016 in a production directed by Thaddeus Strassberger.

Item Special Note

Winning bidder is responsible for additional shipping charges; or item may be picked up at American Lyric Theater's offices in midtown New York City.