Royce Vavrek is an Alberta-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist known as “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times) and “the indie Hofmannstahl” (The New Yorker). His writing has been called “sharp, crisp, witty” (See Magazine), “meticulous” (WQXR Radio), “taut” (The New Yorker), “dramatically wild” and “exhilarating” (The New York Times).

His collaboration with composer David T. Little has led Heidi Waleson of The Wall Street Journal to proclaim them “one of the most exciting composer-librettist teams working in opera today.” Their first full-length opera, Dog Days, received its world premiere in 2012 at Peak Performances @ Montclair, in a production co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects and directed by Robert Woodruff. The work was celebrated as the Classical Music Event of the year by Time Out New York, one of the year’s best by the New Jersey Star Ledger and a standout opera of recent decades by The New York Times. The duo’s first grand opera, JFK, commissioned by Fort Worth Opera and American Lyric Theater, made its heralded world premiere in April 2016 in Fort Worth, Their other collaborations include Am I Born for the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera for Bard Conservatory; archaeology, commissioned and recorded for The Opera America Songbook; and Last Nightfall, premiered as part of the 21c Liederabend, Op. 2 at The Kitchen.