Olga Maslova is a Ukrainian-born American writer and theatre designer, an associate professor at the Department of Theatre at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Her writing career began as a librettist for operas. Her first opera, Black Square, with music composed by Russian composer Ilya Demutsky had its world premiere at Moscow’s famed Tretyakov’s Gallery in 2018. Her second large composition, an oratorio entitled Last Day of an Eternal City, also with composer Ilya Demutsky, premiered in Moscow’s largest concert hall, Zaryad’e, to high critical acclaim in 2021. Based on ancient Roman documents and writings, letters, and everyday life artifacts, the oratorio evokes parallels between the First Rome and the Third Rome (Moscow), exploring the innovative use of language in creating the soundscape of life in a megapolis. Olga’s latest work, Venetian Cycle, the art song cycle for baritone, soprano and a string quartet + harp, inspired by the dark mysteries of medieval Venice during the time of the plague, also with music by Ilya Demutsky, has opened at the Lyric Theatre @ Illinois in May 2023 as a part of Six World Premieres. Olga is currently at work on her first collection of poems, second part of Venetian Cycle and on a musical, a dark satire exploring paradigm shifts in public consciousness during social upheavals.
