The Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA) is pleased to announce that its 2021 Award for BEST NEW OPERA-a major recognition given annually by an Awards Committee of distinguished music critics-goes to composers Du Yun and Raven Chacon and librettists Aja Couchois Duncan and Douglas Kearney for SWEET LAND. An eye-opening pageant that disrupts the dominant narrative of American identity, Sweet Land was a highly collaborative creation produced by The Industry, the Los Angeles-based experimental company founded by MacArthur Fellow Yuval Sharon. Sweet Land took place February 29 - March 8, 2020 before being forced to shut down due to COVID-19.
In addition to the two composers and two librettists, the opera had two directors-Sharon and Cannupa Hanska Luger. Half of the creative team has indigenous roots, with a Native artist in each of the pairings of composers, librettists, and directors. Says Sharon: "We also had the great benefit of these artists each coming from different tribal backgrounds and different perspectives on indigeneity, which made the conversation around representation and depiction so deep."
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MCANA's Best New Opera Award has an illustrious track record. The inaugural Award went to Missy Mazzoli (composer) and Royce Vavrek (librettist) for Breaking the Waves in 2017; the 2nd Award went to composer-librettist David Hertzberg for The Wake World in 2018; the 3rd Award went to Ellen Reid (composer) and Roxy Perkins (libretto) for p r i s m in 2019; and the 4th Award went to Jeanine Tesori (composer) and Tazewell Thompson (librettist) for Blue in 2020.
In response to winning the 2021 MCANA award, librettist Douglas Kearney said:*
Two exciting Sweet Land developments take place this fall: an album and a documentary. On September 24, The Industry will release a live and site-specific digital Sweet Land recording via their record label imprint, The Industry Records; and the company is collaborating with KCET/PBS SoCal on an hour-long documentary entitled "Sweet Land: The Making of A Myth." It features a behind-the-scenes look at the creative team's journey bringing the production to life, and takes a deep dive into the themes and ideas that the team set out to explore, through intimate interviews with the creators and performers.
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The 2021 Best New Opera runner-up is Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl. Due to the COVID pandemic that shut down live performance for much of the year, operas under consideration also included online productions.
The Award
2021 marks Year Five of MCANA's Annual Award for Best New Opera. It honors musical and theatrical excellence in a fully staged opera that received its world premiere in North America during the preceding calendar year. The only such award in the U.S., it is also one of the few in the world that simultaneously recognizes both composer and librettist.
After soliciting nominations from MCANA members, the finalists are chosen by an Awards Committee co-chaired by Heidi Waleson, opera critic of The Wall Street Journal, and George Loomis, longtime contributor to the Financial Times and Musical America-alongside committee members Arthur Kaptainis, who writes for the Montreal Gazette and La Scena Musicale; John Rockwell, former critic and arts editor of The New York Times and co-New York correspondent of Opera (UK); and Alex Ross, music critic of The New Yorker. The Award reflects the overarching mission of MCANA to recognize distinctive achievements and, through its web publication Classical Voice North America, to communicate the richness of musical life in the U.S. and Canada at a time when classical music coverage in traditional print media is shrinking.Videos