OPERA America Awards $100,000 In Discovery Grants To Seven Women Composers

OPERA America has announced the seven composers selected as recipients of the 2024 Discovery Grants from its Opera Grants for Women Composers program, made possible with the generosity of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

The program promotes the work of women composers in opera and raises their visibility across the field. Grants totaling $100,000 will support the development of new opera and music-theater works by these exceptional composers.

The 2024 recipients are:

• Jasmine Arielle Barnes, for She Who Dared
• Sivan Eldar, for Nine Jewelled Deer
• Whitney George, for NO MAN'S LAND
• Rebecca Gray, for BUS Opera
• Elizabeth Hoffman, for On Circe
• Sultana Isham, for Rogue Objects
• Dina Maccabbee, for Roses Are Blue

See below for additional information about the composers and their works.

In addition to cash awards, OPERA America provides travel and registration support for all Discovery Grant recipients to attend its annual Opera Conference and New Works Forum, enabling them to develop relationships with potential creative partners and producers. Grant recipients also receive mentorship and access to professional development programs, including workshops on the business aspects of new work development.

“Women composers are leaders in reshaping the art form and industry of opera,” stated Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America. “These seven talented grantees bring diverse and innovative perspectives. Achieving gender parity is crucial for the future of our field. We are grateful to the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation for their continued support in fostering this essential work.”

Grantees were selected from an applicant pool of 60 highly qualified composers by a panel of industry leaders consisting of Ana De Archuleta, managing director, National Sawdust; Mary Birnbaum, general and artistic director, Opera Saratoga, and dramatic advisor, The Juilliard School; Mary Ellen Childs, composer and 2016 Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants recipient; Thulani Davis, librettist and professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kimille Howard, director and 2022 Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize recipient; and Niloufar Nourbakhsh, composer and 2019 Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants recipient.

OPERA America is committed to increasing gender parity across the field through multiple initiatives. These include the Opera Grants for Women Composers, Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors, Mentorship Program for Women Administrators, and Women's Opera Network.

OPERA America's strategic philanthropy supports field-wide innovation with an emphasis on new work development, co-production, audience building, and increased civic practice. Since the inception of its granting programs, OPERA America has awarded over $23 million to the opera field to support the work of opera creators, administrators, and companies.

More information about OPERA America's grant programs is available at operaamerica.org/Grants.