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.”

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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.”

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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

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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