direction
PYTHIA
PYTHIA is a music drama (combining opera, musical theatre, and spoken word) about the Greek priestesses who worked at the Oracle of Delphi between 800 BC and 400 AD. Scored for soprano, two altos, and bass leads, SATB chorus, two violins and two cellos.
Composer, Director, and Librettist: Mya Vandegrift
Premiered at Northwestern University March 2025
“I am tired of knowing your fate.
In ten thousand years, a piece of this mountain will fall, and my rotted body with sigh with relief.”
creating small thunder
CREATING SMALL THUNDER is an opera about grief, maternal loss, and haunting, as a family grapples with the familiar spirit that haunts their cattle farm. Scored for two sopranos, mezzo, alto, SSA chorus, clarinet, piano, two violins, cello, and electric bass.
Director, Composer, Librettist: Mya Vandegrift
Fletcher Prize in Undergraduate Research 2023, Northwestern University
"And I practice incantations, for an inch of your peace.
I have written over the doors. I cannot let go.”
devoted
DEVOTED is a one-act chamber opera and art installation scored for two mezzo sopranos, harp, violin, cello, alto flute, vibraphone, and live electronics. the virgin mary and mary magdalene have died and are now teenagers again, stuck in the liminal space between heaven and earth: a teenage girl’s bedroom. with no hope of escaping this purgatory, all that they can do to pass the time is reenact and reflect on their shared trauma and their relationships – with men, with womanhood, and with themselves.
2024
Composer & Librettist : Cecelia Olszewski
Directior: Mya Vandegrift
I DID, DID I?
Libretto and Music by Liza Sobel Crane
Produced by Cece Olszewski and Cosmia Opera Co
Staging and Choreography by Mya Vandegrift
I DID, DID I? begins with two roommates, one a dedicated homebody, one a socialite, chatting about the virtues and vices of going out. After one of the women notices something unusual, however, what seems at first like an innocuous conversation spirals out of control, revealing that all is not what it seems. An opera about gender, the dark side of dating, and above all about memory. Please note that the opera discusses sexual assault, which may be triggering for some.
SOMETHING YOU LEFT ME is a solo performance installation/storytelling event featuring 5 voicemails, 7 interviews, and 7 borrowed instruments.
Created, Composed, and Performed by Mya Vandegrift, 2024
Performance Hour Award, Northwestern University
GERTRUD is a choreographed saxophone quartet that utilizes a graphic score for stage directions, the ensemble tracing my maternal family’s journey from Sweden to the United States.
Commissioned by Masso Quartet
Premiered at Andrew Frantz Gallery in Chicago, IL in May of 2024