OPERA America Selects Four Teams for the 2025 Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize

OPERA America will award the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize to four teams of creative artists.

The biennial prize recognizes promising stage directors and designers whose ingenuity brings operatic work to life for contemporary audiences. The prize connects these rising artists with producers who can advance their careers.

The 2025 winning teams are:

• HĂ©ctor Alvarez, director; Salmah Beydoun, set designer; Ashley Kae Snyder, costume designer; and Claire Chrzan, lighting designer, for a production concept for La hija de Rappaccini (Daniel Catán/Juan Tovar)
   
• EstefanĂ­a Fadul, director; Tanya Orellana, scenic designer; Christopher Vergara, costume designer; and Carolina Ortiz Herrera, lighting designer, for a production concept for La hija de Rappaccini (Daniel Catán/Juan Tovar)
   
• Marinette Gomez, director; Hayley Wallenfeldt, set designer; John Polles, costume designer; and Seojung Jang, lighting designer, for a production concept for Breaking the Waves (Missy Mazzoli/Royce Vavrek)
   
• Rebecca Miller Kratzer, director; Tyler Herald, set designer; Camilla Dely, costume designer; Stacey Boggs, lighting designer; and Anisa Rose Threlkeld, dramaturg, for a production concept for La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi/Francesco Maria Piave)

The four teams were selected from a group of applicants who proposed production concepts for operas chosen from a list of new and inherited repertoire. Concepts were judged on quality of concept, clear and creative planning, strong teamwork and collaboration, and feasibility according to industry standards.

The winning teams were awarded monetary prizes to develop their concepts further in preparation for a public presentation this spring at Opera Conference 2025 in Memphis, TN, from May 20‒23. Each team also will install their set models, sketches, and other concept materials in a six-month exhibition at OPERA America's National Opera Center in New York.

The Director-Designer Prize has a track record of launching careers. The Tosca (2023 prize winner) led by director Shadi Ghaheri was produced by Heartbeat Opera, and L'elisir d'amore (2024 prize winner) led by Daniel Ellis was produced by Minnesota Opera. Past winners have gone on to receive engagements for new productions with Austin Opera, Heartbeat Opera, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Seattle Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Washington National Opera, among others.

Applications to the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize were reviewed by an independent panel that included Anshuman Bhatia, lighting and scenic designer (2015 Director-Designer Prize winner); Claire Choquette, stage director (2022 Director-Designer Prize winner); Autumn Coppaway, arts leadership consultant; Tom Ontiveros, associate professor of design, Department of Theater Arts, University of La Verne; and Abby Rodd, director of production, The Glimmerglass Festival.

Named for the renowned philanthropist and champion of artists, the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize, generously supported by the Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, is one of many OPERA America grants and awards that support individual artists. The IDEA Opera Grants (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access), supported by the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation, advance the careers of composers and librettists of color. Discovery Grants from the Opera Grants for Women Composers program, funded by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, support women composers. The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, supported by librettist and lyricist Mark Campbell, spotlights accomplished librettists.

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