Missy Mazzoli believes she was born a composer. Mazzoli, described as a “post-millennial Mozart,” started writing music when she was 10 years old while sitting in her Lansdale home playing the piano. “I really started writing when I was about 10,” Mazzoli said.
“As I got older, I really wanted to tell stories through my work. So, opera was sort of a natural fit. And I fell in love with the theater.
So as a composer, if you want to work in theater, opera is kind of the way to go.” Mazzoli’s newest opera “The Listeners” will be featured by Opera Philadelphia Sept. 25-29 at the Academy of Music.
Tickets are available at . “It is the realization of a personal dream to work at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia,” said , a graduate of North Penn High School. “I have a clear memory of walking by that building as a teenager and thinking, ‘One day, my music will be performed here.
’ ‘The Listeners’ was a fantastic project to debut with Norwegian National Opera in 2022 and I cannot wait to bring it to the U.S. with my hometown company, Opera Philadelphia.
” Based on an original story by Canadian writer Jordan Tannahill, “The Listeners” is inspired by an actual phenomenon called “the global hum,” a low-pitched sound that 4% of the global population claim to hear. Tannahill’s story became a best-selling novel in 2021 and is being adapted into a limited BBC television series by Element Pictures (“Normal People,” “Poor Things”) starring R.