OPERA America Announces 2023 National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards

OPERA America has announced the recipients of the 2023 National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards, which honor outstanding trustees of North American opera companies for their exemplary leadership and service on behalf of their respective organizations.

The 2023 National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards recipients are:

• Sarah Moulton Faux, The American Opera Project
• Keith Geeslin, San Francisco Opera
• Anne Kline, Wolf Trap Opera
• Russell McColman, BARN OPERA
• Francis Price, Edmonton Opera (Association for Opera in Canada recipient)
• Nadege Souvenir, Minnesota Opera

See below for full biographies of the honorees.

The National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards are made possible with the generous support of Bank of America.

All OPERA America Professional Company Members are invited to nominate one board member for recognition each year. Nominees are evaluated based on their contributions to their company’s overall success, board effectiveness, and community impact, as well as their support of their company’s pandemic recovery and commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

U.S. nominees are reviewed by a committee of prior honorees. The 2023 committee was chaired by Carol Lazier of San Diego Opera and included Arlene Ferebee, Opera Carolina; John Fitzgerald, IN Series; Elizabeth Hernandez, Opera Cultura; Chris Murray, Opera Las Vegas; John Nesholm, Seattle Opera; Ruth Orth, Pensacola Opera; Chérie Shreck, Des Moines Metro Opera; and Stacey Hunt Spier, El Paso Opera. The Canadian National Opera Director Recognition Award recipient is selected by a committee from the Association of Opera in Canada. 

“The 2023 National Opera Trustee Recognition Award recipients represent the best of our field’s leadership,” stated Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America. “We shine a light on their service to their opera companies as models of superb nonprofit governance. Their exceptional service to their companies strengthens opera across North America.”

OPERA America will present the National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards at the OPERA America Salutes awards dinner on Friday, January 26, 2024, in New York City. The event will include cocktails, dinner, and musical performances by singers from the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

The OPERA America Salutes awards dinner generates essential support for OPERA America’s professional development programs. Proceeds underwrite the organization’s Leadership Intensive, New General Director Roundtables, and Mentorship Programs. Single tickets ($350+) and tables ($5,000+) to OPERA America Salutes will be available at operaamerica.org/OASalutes in Fall 2023, reservations are required by Friday, January 5, 2024.

For more information about the National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards, including past recipients, visit operaamerica.org/NOTRA.

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