Chamber opera by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek nominated for Best World Premiere.

Breaking the Waves, the critically acclaimed chamber opera co-commissioned by Opera Philadelphia and Beth Morrison Projects, has been shortlisted for the 2017 International Opera Award for World Premiere. Composer Missy Mazzoli, an alumna of Opera Philadelphia's Composer in Residence Program, and librettist Royce Vavrek are in good company among stand-out nominees from all over the world: Thomas Adès' The Exterminating Angel (Salzburg Festival); Elena Langer's Figaro Gets a Divorce (Welsh National Opera); Anno Schreier's Hamlet (Theater an der Wien); Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber (San Francisco Opera); and Miroslav Srnka's South Pole (Bayerische Staatsoper).

Based on Lars von Trier's 1996 Oscar-nominated film and directed by James Darrah, Breaking the Waves received high praise for its World Premiere held at the Perelman Theater in September 2016. Declaring the opera “ambitious, accomplished, [and] dramatically direct,” the New York Times pointed out: “It is not easy to find new operas that command attention, tell their story lucidly and create a powerful, permeating mood. Dark and daring, Breaking the Waves does all this with sensitivity and style.” For the Wall Street Journal, Breaking the Waves was “savage, heartbreaking and thoroughly original,” while Opera News declared it "among the best 21st-century American operas yet produced." At its January 2017 New York City Premiere during Beth Morrison Projects' PROTOTYPE Festival, Breaking the Waves continued to earn commendations.