Created by librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell

OPERA America is pleased to announce the 2024 Campbell Opera Librettist Prize recipient, Kelley Rourke.

Established in 2021 by acclaimed librettist and lyricist Mark Campbell, the Prize is the first award in the history of American opera created specifically to honor the work of opera librettists. The annual winner receives an award of $7,000 to support creative development and career advancement, and is funded by Campbell, with additional support from William Murray and an anonymous donor.

“I’m thrilled to join the distinguished short list of storytellers who have been honored with the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize,” reflected Rourke upon receiving news of her award. “I can think of no one who has done more to advance the standing of the librettist in the 21^st century than Mark Campbell, and I’m grateful to Mark and OPERA America for shining this spotlight on our work.”

“Too many in this business know Kelley only from her excellent work as a translator of classical opera, the dramaturg at The Glimmerglass Festival, and artistic advisor of the American Opera Initiative,” said Campbell. “I hope this award will help spotlight her splendid and versatile work as a librettist.”

A librettist, translator, and dramaturg, Rourke has collaborated with composers including John Glover (Natural Systems, Lucy, Stay, Right Now, Eat the Document), Kamala Sankaram (Jungle Book), Kenji Oh (The Emissary), Wang Lu (The Beekeeper), Laura Karpman (Wilde Tales, And Still We Dream), and Ben Moore (Odyssey, Robin Hood). She has also created more than 20 English adaptations of existing operas. Her work has been commissioned by companies including Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Metropolitan Opera; English National Opera; Washington National Opera; The Glimmerglass Festival; Chicago Opera Theater; Opera Parallèle; On Site Opera; Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Boston Lyric Opera; Milwaukee Opera Theatre; and American Composers Orchestra. Rourke’s 2024–2025 season includes premieres of Eat the Document (PROTOTYPE Festival) and an expanded Jungle Book (Washington National Opera); a new English adaptation of Nino Rota’s Lo scoiattolo in gamba (Calgary Opera); and revivals of Hansel and Gretel (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Robin Hood (Seattle Opera), Songbird (University of Wisconsin), and Odyssey (The Glimmerglass Festival). Learn more about Rourke at kelleyrourke.com.

Rourke serves as the artistic advisor for Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative (AOI) and as the resident dramaturg for The Glimmerglass Festival. She has served as a mentor for Seattle Opera’s Creation Lab and AOI and as dramaturg for Chicago Opera Theater’s Vanguard Initiative. She was founding editor of Opera America Magazine in 2007 and a contributor to the New Grove Dictionary of American Music. A recipient of two commissioning grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, she is an alumna of New Dramatists’ Composer-Librettist Studio and the Critical Response Process Certification Program. She holds degrees in piano performance and arts management.

Rourke was selected from an applicant pool of nearly 40 librettists by a panel of industry leaders including Deborah Brevoort, librettist and 2023 recipient of the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize; Carla Lucero, composer and librettist; Laquita Mitchell, soprano; Marianna Mott Newirth, producer and librettist; and Dennis Whitehead Darling, stage director.

“It’s a joy to recognize Kelley Rourke as the winner of the 2024 Campbell Opera Librettist Prize,” stated Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America. “Thanks to the leadership of Mark Campbell, we can amplify Kelley’s accomplishments as a multi-talented artist in our industry.”

The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize was established by Mark Campbell to raise the profile of the opera librettist. Campbell was the recipient of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association and is one of the art form’s most prolific creators, with 41 librettos, five oratorios, and nine song cycles to his credit. His works include Silent Night (Kevin Puts/2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music) and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Mason Bates/2018 Grammy Award). His roster of successful works includes The Shining (Paul Moravec), Sanctuary Road (Paul Moravec), Stonewall (Iain Bell), Songs from an Unmade Bed, As One (Laura Kaminsky, Kimberly Reed), Later the Same Evening (John Musto), and Elizabeth Cree (Kevin Puts).

The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize is one of several OPERA America grants and prizes that support individual artists:

• IDEA Opera Grants (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access), supported by the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation, advance the careers of composers and librettists of color.
• Discovery Grants from the Opera Grants for Women Composers program, funded by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, support and promote the work of women writing operas.
• The Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize, supported by the Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, recognizes promising stage directors and designers for their creative visions.

To learn more about the Prize and all of OPERA America’s grants, visit Grants.

Photo by Brittany Lesavoy Smith