Deborah Brevoort and Stephanie Fleischmann in Conversation
Deborah Brevoort, librettist
Deborah Brevoort is best known for her play The Women of Lockerbie, which is produced internationally, and for numerous comedies and dramas produced at regional theaters across the U.S. An alum of American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program, Brevoort has written the librettos for nine operas. With composer Aleksandra Vrebalov, she wrote The Knock, a co-commission of The Glimmerglass Festival and Cincinnati Opera that was staged in Cincinnati in 2023. Brevoort’s other operas are Quamino’s Map, with Errollyn Wallen; Murasaki’s Moon, with Michi Wiancko; Embedded and Albert Nobbs with Patrick Soluri; Steal a Pencil for Me, with Gerald Cohen; Dinner 4 3 with Michael Ching; and new adaptations of Mozart’s The Impresario and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus
Brevort teaches in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at New York University and the M.F.A. playwriting program at Columbia University and also serves as the librettist mentor for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative.
In 2023, Brevort was awarded the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize from OPERA America.
Stephanie Fleischmann, librettist
Stephanie Fleischmann is a librettist and playwright whose texts serve as blueprints for intricate three-dimensional sonic and visual worlds. Her “lyrical monologues” (New York Times), “finely tuned” opera libretti (Opera News), plays, and music-theater works have been performed internationally and across the U.S. She has written the libretti for the operas In a Grove, with Christopher Cerrone; Medea and Poppaea, with Michael Hersch; Dido, with Melinda Wagner; Another City and The Long Walk, with Jeremy Howard Beck; After the Storm, with David Hanlon; Arkhipov, with Peter Knell; and The Property, with Wlad Marhulets. Her upcoming operas include The Pigeon Keeper (David Hanlon) at the Santa Fe Opera, Tevye’s Daughters (Alex Weiser) at American Lyric Theater, and My Other Me (Matthew Recio) at West Edge Opera.
In addition to her work in opera, Fleischmann has penned texts that have been set by composers Christopher Cerrone, Anna Clyne, Gity Razaz, Olga Neuwirth, and others, and has worked on numerous music-theater works.
In 2022, Fleischmann was awarded the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize from OPERA America.
Marc A. Scorca, OPERA America President/CEO
Marc A. Scorca joined OPERA America in 1990 as president and CEO. Since that time, the OPERA America membership has grown from 120 opera companies to 3,500 organizations and individuals. Under his leadership, OPERA America has administered two landmark funding initiatives in support of the development of North American operas and opera audiences and launched an endowment effort in 2000 to create a permanent fund dedicated to supporting new works and audience development activities. In 2005, Scorca spearheaded OPERA America’s relocation from Washington, D.C. to New York City and the subsequent construction of the National Opera Center, which opened in 2012 and serves 80,000 guests each year. The Opera Center’s recital hall was dedicated as Marc A. Scorca Hall in 2015 in honor of Scorca’s 25th anniversary with the organization.
Scorca has led strategic planning retreats for opera companies and other cultural institutions internationally, and has participated on panels for federal, state, and local funding agencies, as well as for numerous private organizations. He also appears frequently in the media on a variety of cultural issues. A strong advocate of collaboration, Scorca has led several cross-disciplinary projects, including the Performing Arts Research Coalition and the National Performing Arts Convention (2004 and 2008). He is currently a member of the U.S. delegation to UNESCO. Scorca serves as an officer on the boards of the Performing Arts Alliance and the Curtis Institute of Music, and is on the Music Advisory Board of Hunter College (CUNY). Scorca attended Amherst College, where he graduated with high honors in both history and music.