Lisa Scola Prosek (born March 25, 1958) is a

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

-based composer and librettist. Among her compositions are two

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s and seven

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

Life and career

Scola Prosek was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

and raised in Rome. She graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

, where she studied with

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia to Albert E ...

Edward Cone Edward Toner Cone (May 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, and philanthropist. Life and career Cone was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He studied composition under Roger Sessions at Pr ...

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with Ju ...

, and Gaetano Giani Luporini. She was commissioned by San Francisco’s Thick House Theater for her operas ''Daughter of the Red Tzar'', ''Belfagor'' and ''Sail the Blue Aegean''. Her first operatic composition was ''Satyricon'' which premiered in 2002. She is the recipient of several commissions, grants and awards, including from the

Argosy Foundation The Argosy Foundation, founded in 1997, is currently based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was formerly known as the Abele Family Charitable Trust. History The foundation was established in 1995 with a $9 million endowment from John Abele. In 2002, ...

Contemporary Music Fund, the LEF Foundation,

Meet The Composer New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media program ...

, Theatre Bay Area, The Hewlett Foundation, the Zellerbach Foundation, and

The American Composers Forum The American Composers Forum is an American organization that works for the promotion and assistance of American composers and contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1973 as the Minnesota Composers Forum and is based in Saint Paul, Minnes ...

. In addition to her work as a composer, she is principal pianist and General Manager of the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra.

Works

Chamber operas

* ''The Lariat'' (2014). Based on ''

The Lariat ''The Lariat'' is a 1927 short novel by the poet and anthropologist Jaime de Angulo, set in Spanish California. It is reprinted in Bob Callahan, ed. ''A Jaime de Anglo Reader'' (Turtle Island Books, 1974). Plot summary ''The Lariat'' is a story ...

'', a novella by

Jaime de Angulo Jaime de Angulo (1887–1950) was a linguist, novelist, and ethnomusicologist in the western United States. He was born in Paris of Spanish parents. He came to America in 1905 to become a cowboy, and eventually arrived in San Francisco on the eve ...

. The first public workshop performance took place at San Francisco's Un-Scripted Theatre in June 2014.San Francisco International Arts Festival
''The Lariat''
* ''Daughter of the Red Tzar'' (2012). Commissioned for Thick House Theater and produced with Art Space Development Corporation and First Look Sonoma. * ''Dieci Giorni'' (2010). Premiered at Thick House in San Francisco and was written in collaboration with composer Erling Wold based on

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was some ...

’s Decameron. * ''Trap Door'' (2008). A Chamber video opera. Commissioned by The Lab/Art group. Residency at The Lab, 16th Street, San Francisco. In English, based on one soldierʼs experiences in Iraq. Directed by Jim Cave, video sets by Jakub Kalousek. * ''Belfagor'' (2007). Based on Machiavelliʼs Belfagor. Thick House Theater, San Francisco. Performed as a Video-Opera with chamber orchestra, Martha Stoddard, conducting. Directed By Jim Cave. * ''I Quaderni di Leonardo'' (2006). Opera in Italian, text by the composer, with chamber orchestra, Thick House Theater, San Francisco. Videography by Jakub Kalousek. Jim Cave, Director. * ''Satyricon'' (2002)

Choral works and song cycles

* ''Libera Me'' (2006). For Choir and Orchestra: Schola Cantorum San Francisco and the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, Old First Church, San Francisco. * ''En una Noche'' (2006). For the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, Song cycle for Soprano and Viola, with texts from

San Juan de la Cruz John of the Cross, OCD ( es, link=no, Juan de la Cruz; la, Ioannes a Cruce; born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez; 24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591) was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and a Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major figu ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scola Prosek, Lisa 1958 births 20th-century classical composers 21st-century American composers 21st-century classical composers American classical composers American women classical composers American opera composers Living people Princeton University alumni Pupils of Edward T. Cone Pupils of Lukas Foss Pupils of Milton Babbitt Women opera composers 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians Classical musicians from New Jersey 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers