Juilliard Opera Presents Missy Mazzoli's "Proving Up"

by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek
Steven Osgood, Conductor
Mary Birnbaum, Director

The Cast (in order of vocal appearance):
The Sodbuster - Joseph Parrish
Mrs. Johannes “Ma” Zegner - Julia Stuart
Littler Zegner Daughter - Georgiana Adams
Taller Zegner Daughter - Mary Beth Nelson
Miles Zegner - Andrew Turner
Mr. Johannes “Pa” Zegner - Trevor Haumschilt
Peter Zegner - Nazrin Alymann

The Washington Post called Proving Up “harrowing … powerful … a true opera of our time.” 

Juilliard Opera presents Grammy Award-winning composer Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, featuring singers from the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts and members of the Juilliard Orchestra. Proving Up is written by Mazzoli with her longtime collaborator, librettist Royce Vavrek, and is conducted by Steven Osgood, and directed by faculty member Mary Birnbaum. 

Based on a short story by Karen Russell, Proving Up is a surreal tale about a Nebraskan family trying to meet the grueling requirements of the 1862 Homestead Act. The chamber opera presents a haunting look at the American Dream. Proving Up was commissioned by the Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha, and Columbia University’s Miller Theatre (New York) in 2018.  

Know before you go! Read the digital program and accessible digital program. 

Watch the performance on this page at the scheduled date and time. The livestream will be live captioned, please click on 'CC' in the video menu to enable captions or read captions here. This performance won’t be available to stream afterward on demand.

Read Mazzoli Opera Comes to Juilliard in the Juilliard Journal.  

Lead Digital Sponsor: Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Juilliard’s livestream technology is made possible in part by a gift in honor of President Emeritus Joseph W. Polisi, building on his legacy of broadening Juilliard’s global reach.