Librettist Mark Campbell knows CU well. In 1974, he played a lead role here in The Vision of Vasavadatta as a Theatre & Dance student.
It鈥檚 not every day you get to work with a Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist as a college student.
It鈥檚 even less often that you share the same alma mater.
When the sixth season of the CU New Opera Workshop, or听CU NOW, kicks off this month, one of the opera professionals mentoring composition students knows Boulder well. Mark Campbell, a 1975 graduate of the Department of Theatre and Dance, is coming back to campus for the first time in 40 years.
鈥淚 am absolutely thrilled to be returning to Boulder,鈥� says Campbell. 鈥淚鈥檓 especially eager to work with everyone at the Eklund Opera Program and see how Boulder has changed since I left.鈥�
Campbell and composer Zach Redler will work with CU voice and composition students on their new opera,听A Song for Susan Smith. It鈥檚 based on the 1994 case of a South Carolina mother who drowned her sons, then told police they were abducted, and later confessed to committing the murder. She鈥檚 currently serving two life sentences.
Campbell says the public response to the tragedy made it an ideal opera. 鈥淭he story just felt instantly operatic to me. But it was only as I kept reading about [Susan Smith] that I began to feel sympathy for her, and you can't write anyone unless you feel some level of sympathy for them. Even the most villainous characters.鈥澨�
The composer, Redler, says it was that ability to come at the story with understanding that made Campbell's libretto exciting to help put to music. "It speaks to how quick we are to judge and punish鈥攈opefully rightfully so鈥攂ut most times without understanding the why and, more importantly, how we can possibly prevent future tragedies," Redler says.
The technical qualities, Campbell says, make听A Song for听Susan Smith听an ideal opera to workshop at CU NOW. 鈥淭here are moments in it that need to be tested with real singers and Zach and I can make adjustments about the clarity of the storytelling and pacing.鈥�
For someone who鈥檚 relatively new to opera鈥攈e only started producing pieces in 2002鈥擟ampbell has made quick work of elevating the status of new works in the opera world. He鈥檚 been commissioned to write 14 operas by some of the top companies in the U.S. And he鈥檚 spent his time mentoring young writers with American Opera Projects, the American Opera Initiative and the American Lyric Theatre.
鈥淚t only makes sense that CU NOW and I would come together. This development program is gaining a national reputation for creating new work,鈥� Campbell says. 鈥淚 feel really honored to be a part of it.鈥�
Chair of the CU Theatre and Dance department, Bud Coleman, will direct this year鈥檚 performances. It鈥檚 one of several collaborations between the College of Music and Theatre and Dance that he鈥檚 helped spur. 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to work again with colleagues and students in the College of Music,鈥� says Coleman. 鈥淲e are all enriched by working in different facets of the听performing arts.鈥� 听
Silent Night, an opera Campbell wrote with composer Kevin Puts, received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Based on the 2005 film听闯辞测别耻虫听狈辞毛濒, the opera takes place during Christmas 1914 in World War I Europe. He says his time working with various groups at CU laid the foundation for a writing style with more depth and diversity.听
鈥淭here was a program in the Theatre and Dance department that was established to promote diverse ideas and cultures,鈥� Campbell explains. 鈥淚 think that exposed me to many different kinds of theater and nurtured eclecticism in my own work.鈥�
Similarly, Campbell says programs like CU NOW are nurturing careers that will even take opera to the听next听level. 鈥淭hese workshops train our future composers and librettists on how to tell stories passionately and adroitly through music and text. They ensure that opera will have a future.鈥�
The CU New Opera Workshop kicks off with rehearsals on May 26, with works being performed June 12-14. For information about the students and the professionals involved,听visit the CU NOW page.
