Joshua McGuire
Librettist
Joshua McGuire is the author of over ten librettos for the opera stage, including The Ghosts of Gatsby and the holiday staple Lucinda y Las Flores de la Nochebuena (with music by Evan Mack). The recipient of prizes and fellowships from Opera America, Washington National Opera, The National Opera Association, The American Center for New Works Development, and Yaddo, he is also the author of one nonfiction title, The Secret of Music: a look at the listening life (Shanti Arts Press, 2019). His poetry has appeared in numerous journals, including Levee Magazine and The Manhattan Review. McGuire currently teaches at the Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music. He is represented by Deirdre Mullane of Mullane Literary Associates.
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RULES FOR WRITING LIBRETTO
This is a fairly impractical post. How many people want to write the words to an opera? Perhaps the first rule of writing libretto would be, simply,
1) Don’t.
Nonetheless, I’ve been asked a lot recently how one goes about doing it — and so below are some guiding principles, learned from experience:…
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July 4 2025