Missy Mazzoli Announces Landmark 2026-27 Season

World Premieres include Two New Operas at the Metropolitan Opera and the Edinburgh International Festival, and a new Piano Concerto commissioned by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic

Lincoln in the Bardo will have its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera October 19, 2026, making Mazzoli the first female composer to have an opera commissioned and premiered solely by the Met

The Galloping Cure will have its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival August 9, 2026, following the acclaimed production of Breaking the Waves at the 2019 Festival

In February, 2027, the New York Philharmonic and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester will premiere Mazzoli's Piano Concerto, written for Leif Ove Andsnes

[April 24, New York, NY] - Missy Mazzoli announces a landmark 2026-27 season, including two major operatic world premieres and a new piano concerto written for Leif Ove Andsnes. The Galloping Cure will have its premiere August 9, 2026, at the Edinburgh International Festival, while Lincoln in the Bardo will have its premiere October 19, 2026, at the Metropolitan Opera marking the first opera ever written by a woman to be solely premiered and commissioned by The Met. These operatic premieres – both featuring librettos by longtime collaborator Royce Vavrek – follow the successes of Mazzoli's operas The Listeners, Proving Up, Song from the Uproar, and Breaking the Waves, which has had a staggering fourteen original productions since its premiere.

CHRONOLOGICAL HIGHLIGHTS

May 1-2, 2026, a recently announced highlight of Mazzoli's 2026 Spring season, Death of Classical presents After the Fall: Mazzoli Metamorphosen in The Crypt under the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, performed by alumni of the Lake George Music Festival. The program pairs Strauss' Metamorphosen (string septet arrangement) with Mazzoli‍'s Dark with Excessive Bright in an arrangement for violin solo and string quintet.

August 9-12, 2026, Opera Ventures Productions and Scottish Opera will present the world premiere performances of The Galloping Cure at the Edinburgh International Festival as a part of the Anderson Opera Series. The Galloping Cure, an allegory centered around the Opioid Crisis, was created with librettist Royce Vavrek based on an original story by Karen Russell, inspired in part by Kafka's short story A Country Doctor. Mazzoli and Vavrek both have deeply personal connections to this story, having both lost immediate family members to drug overdoses. The cast is led by Daniela Mack and includes Justin Austin and Susan Bullock, among others. The Orchestra of the Scottish Opera will be led by Stuart Stratford. This co-production between Opera Ventures Productions, Scottish Opera, NorrlandsOperan AB, Canadian Opera Company, San Francisco Opera, and the State Opera of South Australia, will be directed by Tony Award-winning (War Horse) director Tom Morris. The opera was co-commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival, Opera Ventures Productions, Scottish Opera, NorrlandsOperan AB, and the San Francisco Opera.

August 30, 2026, The Met Orchestra on tour with Yannick Nézet-Séguin will present Mazzoli's Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) at the Lucerne Festival. The concert pairs Mazzoli's work with two works by Mahler; Rückert-Lieder, featuring soloist Joyce DiDonato, and Symphony No. 4.

October 19-November 14, 2026, the Metropolitan Opera presents the world premiere of Mazzoli and Vavrek's Lincoln in the Bardo, based on the Booker Prize–winning novel by George Saunders. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a ensemble cast including Peter Mattei, Christine Goerke, Stephanie Blythe, and Anthony Roth Costanzo, among others. The production, being premiered during the 250th anniversary of the United States, will be directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz with puppetry designed and operated by James Ortiz (whose work was most recently featured in the Ryan Gosling-led film Project Hail Mary). Set primarily in a graveyard, the story centers around a motley collection of ghosts who swirl around Abraham Lincoln as he mourns his eleven-year-old son, Willie.

February 6, 2027, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg will present the world premiere performance of Mazzoli's new piano concerto, written for pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, at the Elbphilhamonie in Hamburg. The concerto is co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic through the Kravis Prize for New Music and the Elbphilharmonie Orchester. The following week, February 11-13, the New York Philharmonic led by Daniel Harding will present the US premiere performance with Leif Ove Andsnes.

February 13-25, 2027, English National Opera will premiere a new production of Breaking the Waves. Directed by Olivier-nominated Tinuke Craig and conducted by Joana Carneiro, the cast includes Lauren Snouffer returning to the role of Bess and Liam James Karai as Jan.

NDR ARTIST ACROSS ENSEMBLES RESIDENCY

The February world premiere of Mazzoli's new piano concerto with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Leif Ove Andsnes is part of her 2026-27 residency with the NDR ensembles. On April 16, 2027, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra led by Jonathan Stockhammer will present Apocalyptic Triptych, a concert including new arrangements of Mazzoli's pieces Year of our Burning featuring the NDR Vokalensemble under conductor Heide Müller, Millenium Canticles featuring Third Coast Percussion, and Violinconcerto (Procession) with soloist Ilya Gringolts. Throughout the season, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra will program Mazzoli's pieces, Orpheus Undone, Dark with Excessive Bright, and Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres). In the Spring of 2027, Mazzoli will hold an open composers workshop in Hannover, featuring the musicians of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, with alumni of the Luna Composition Lab among the participants.

LUNA LAB 10th ANNIVERSARY

2026-27 marks the 10th anniversary season of the Luna Composition Lab. Co-founded by Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, the Luna Composition Lab was created to address the gender gap in contemporary music by empowering young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming composers with mentorship, performance opportunities, and professional networks. Over the last ten years, the Luna Lab has become a nationally recognized incubator of talent, shaping the future of composition by elevating emerging composers and giving them the tools and platform needed to thrive in today's classical music landscape. To celebrate this milestone, the company has launched their Luna Lab@10 initiative, an ambitious project to co-commission nearly 75 new works by Luna Lab alumni to be performed internationally over the 2026-27 season with partners including the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, Kronos Quartet, and Cincinnati Symphony's May Festival.

LISTINGS

May 1-2, 2026
Dark with Excessive Bright | Death of Classical | The Crypt under the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

August 9-12, 2026
The Galloping Cure (World Premiere) | Edinburgh International Festival

August 30, 2026
Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) | The Met Orchestra | Lucerne Festival

September 17-20, 2026
Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) | NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

October 8-11, 2026
Orpheus Undone | NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

October 19-November 14, 2026
Lincoln in the Bardo (World Premiere) | The Metropolitan Opera

October 30-November 1, 2026
Orpheus Undone | Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra led by Jane Glover

December 4, 2026
These Worlds in Us | Orchestra Victoria | Meet @ the Market (Melbourne, Australia)

February 6, 2027
Piano Concerto (World Premiere) | NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra | Leif Ove Andsnes

February 11-13, 2027
Piano Concerto (US Premiere) | New York Philharmonic | Leif Ove Andsnes

February 13-25, 2027
Breaking the Waves | English National Opera

March 5, 2027
Forgiveness Machine | Adam Tendler's Inheritances | Seattle Symphony

April 16, 2027
Apocalyptic Triptych | NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

About Missy Mazzoli

Deemed "Brooklyn's post-millenial Mozart" (Time Out New York) and "among the most inventive and surprising composers working today" (The New York Times), GRAMMY®-nominated composer Missy Mazzoli has established herself as "the 21st century's gatecrasher of new classical music" (NPR). She has been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, LA Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Comique, Scottish Opera, and Opera Philadelphia, among many others, and artists who have championed her work include the Kronos Quartet, Emmanuel Ax, and Jennifer Koh, and more. Her 2026-27 season includes the world premiere of two operas, Lincoln in the Bardo at The Metropolitan Opera (the first opera by a woman to be solely commissioned and premiered by The Met) and The Galloping Cure at the Edinburgh International Festival, and a new piano concerto for Leif Ove Andsnes to be premiered by the New York Philharmonic and Elbphilharmonie Orchester.