Born in Brooklyn, New York, where she still makes her home, Deborah Drattell trained as a violinist before turning to composition at age nineteen. She quickly made up for this relatively late start. ‘It became a passion,’ Drattell said of her early experience of writing music. ‘Once I started, I couldn’t stop.’

Early in her career, Drattell concentrated on instrumental music. Her orchestral compositions have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St Luke’s, the Seattle Symphony and other major American orchestras. Since the turn of the millennium, the composer has devoted herself principally to opera, creating several well-regarded works for the theatre. These include Nicholas and Alexandra—written expressly for Plácido Domingo, who performed the title rôle in its première production—and two collaborations with the lauded American playwright Wendy Wasserstein as librettist.

Courtesy of Paul Schiavo