Workshop: Libretto Writing

Programmed to coincide with the current exhibition, All Crescendo, No Reward, this workshop serves as an introduction to libretto writing. Similar to a script or a screenplay, a libretto functions as a guiding text for an opera (or similar works), providing the lyrics or words performed in parallel to the composition.

Inspired by Matt Copson and Frances Stark’s interest in the relationship between language and song, this is an opportunity to learn about how narrative and music entwine to tell a story, and offers guidance on the basics of how a libretto is written.

No previous writing experience is required. Booking essential.

Sophia Chapadjiev’s librettos have featured at Symphony Space, American Opera Projects, Opera Fest, and St. Pancras Station. The Bone Keepers (music: O’Neil) was selected as “a favorite” by Broadway World Opera; The Parting Place (music: Lewis) is a “micro-opera” commissioned for the Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists Program; and Minutes to Midnight (music: Sturt) appeared in OperaWire’s 'Top Ten Operas to Stream This Week' and was called an “extraordinary work of vivid contrasts” (Spy in the Stalls). Sophia is also Artistic Director of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s Young Playwrights Festival and has written a book for educators called Teaching Playwriting.