OPERA America Awards $100,000 to Support Opera by Women at Five Opera Companies

OPERA America has announced grants to five companies to support the commissioning of new works by women composers as part of its Opera Grants for Women Composers program, generously supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. These Commissioning Grants promote the development of new works by women and bring visibility to women composers in the field. They award opera companies with up to 50 percent of the composer’s fee for a full production of a commissioned work, with grants of up to $50,000.

Commissioning Grants totaling $100,000 were awarded to:

• American Lyric Theater (New York, NY) for She Who Dared, composed by Jasmine Arielle Barnes (libretto by Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton)
• On Site Opera (New York, NY) for Lucidity, composed by Laura Kaminsky (libretto by David Cote) Co-producers: Seattle Opera (Seattle, WA), Tri-Cities Opera (Binghamton, NY), and Opera in the Heights (Houston, TX)
• Opera on Tap (Brooklyn, NY) for The Singing Cabinets, composed by Kamala Sankaram (libretto by Jerre Dye)
• Opera Saratoga (Saratoga Springs, NY) for DRIFT, composed by Alyssa Weinberg (libretto by J. Mae Barizo)
• Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, SC) for a not-yet-titled project for the 50th anniversary of Spoleto Festival USA, composed by Paola Prestini (libretto by Robin Coste Lewis)

See below for descriptions of the projects and composer biographies.

The five opera company recipients were selected from a pool of eligible OPERA America Professional Company Members. The independent adjudication panel of industry experts included Alyson Cambridge, soprano and producer; Michael Ching, composer; Beth Greenberg, stage director and dramaturg; Blythe Gaissert, mezzo-soprano; Timothy Long, conductor, pianist, and composer; and Brenda Shaughnessy, poet, librettist and professor (librettist beneficiary of a 2023 Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grant).

The Opera Grants for Women Composers program enriches the art form by supporting the work of women who bring their creative perspectives, experiences, and stories to stages across the country. It consists of two parallel granting initiatives: Discovery Grants, awarded directly to women composers to advance the development of new work; and Commissioning Grants, awarded to opera companies for commissions by women composers.

The program has distributed nearly $1.8 million to composers and companies since its creation in 2014 and has helped propel the careers of countless women creators in the opera field. Of the five composers supported through 2024 Commissioning Grants, four received Discovery Grants for prior projects. 

“Uplifting the voices of women composers is essential to the success of opera,” commented Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America. “We are profoundly grateful to the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation for their steadfast support and partnership in advancing gender parity in the field.”

OPERA America is committed to increasing gender parity in all areas of the industry. In addition to Opera Grants for Women Composers, the organization offers Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors (generously supported by the Marineau Family Foundation), its Mentorship Program for Women Administrators, and its Women’s Opera Network.

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

 

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