(Santa Fe, NM) - I met librettist Mark Campbell in 2015, while he and composer Mason Bates were finalizing their Grammy-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. I also had the honor of being at its Santa Fe Opera world premiere in 2017. During the pandemic, he even wrote a piece for OI. But with the arrival of a new regime in Washington, and the hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center by Trump, a political lapdog, and a new board of loyalist supporters, I wanted to know how Mark felt about Washington National Opera’s production of Jobs, which closed two weeks ago…

Surprise! Welcome to the Opera Innovation | No. 1 playlist + liner notes. Since we’re still about opera and the classically trained voice, we thought we’d highlight artists who’ve been on the blog or our social media channels since we launched in late Spring 2020. Some people here are friends I’ve known for a while, others I’ve only met online, and some who are sadly no longer with us but live on through their one-of-a-kind work…

When news of Mark Campbell’s librettist prize with OPERA America hit the internet, I sent him a congratulatory Facebook DM. What ensued was a weeks-long conversation that resulted in the wonderful Q&A below…