OPERA America — The National Service Organization for Opera

2004 Awardees

The US opera companies were granted awards within the Development categories, and the full array of Awards were available to Canadian opera companies.

Partnerships
Florentine Opera
Opera Ontario
Tapestry New Opera Works

Development
The Banff Centre
Canadian Opera Company
Chant Libres
Cincinnati Opera
Florida Grand Opera
Los Angeles Opera
New York City Opera
Opera Omaha
Opera Theater of Pittsburgh
The Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company
San Francisco Opera
The Santa Fe Opera
Tapestry New Opera Works
Vancouver Opera

Production
Chants Libres
Manitoba Opera
Modern Baroque Opera
Tapestry New Opera Works

Documentation
Canadian Opera Company
Chant Libres

Audience Development
Soundstreams Canada
Tapestry New Opera Works

Artist Development
Rod Ceballos
Brian Current
Kico Gonzalez-Risso
Juliet Kiri Palmer
James Rolfe

Florentine Opera
IDIOT'S DELIGHT
Amount of Award: $10,000

William Bolcom and Arnold Weinstein are creating a chamber opera based on Robert Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Idiot's Delight. The award will facilitate formalizing a consortium including New York City Opera, Prince Music Theater, Florentine Opera Company, and Central City Opera (tentative); commissioning the work; and staging readings of songs and scenes.

Opera Ontario
JOSEPH BRANT-THAYENDANEGA PROJECT
Amount of Award: $7,500

The award will assist in developing a partnership among Opera Ontario, the Six Nations Writers, and the Woodland Cultural Centre in order to develop a work based on the life of Joseph Brant-Thayendanega. The work will utilize both Western musical idioms and the musical and storytelling techniques of the aboriginal people.

Tapestry New Opera Works
OVER THE JAPANESE SEA
Amount of Award: $10,000

Juliet Palmer and Julie Salverson are writing an opera about the "Highway of the Atom," over which uranium ore was transported to build atomic bombs. The award will support the artists in the creation of the piece and aid Tapestry in identifying and formalizing consortium members in five different communities: Great Bear Lake (Deline), Northwest Territories; Port Hope, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; Los Alamos (or Santa Fe), New Mexico; and Hiroshima, Japan.

Cincinnati Opera
MARGARET GARNER
Amount of Award: $28,000

Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison will honor the opening of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center through a new opera that examines a critical period in the history of the nation. The award will support a three-week workshop, providing an opportunity for the composer and librettist, along with key members of the creative team, to test and refine the new work in its entirety, including an orchestral reading in a performance context. Consortium members include Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Florida Grand Opera
ANNA KARENINA
Amount of Award: $20,000

David Carlson and Colin Graham are writing an opera based on Tolstoy's famed novel to commemorate the opening of the Dolores and Sanford Ziff Ballet Opera House, scheduled for 2006. The award will support a meeting to reunite the founding creative team with contracted artists and consortium partners, providing an opportunity to further assess the work, refine the vision for the production, and revisit the project's working schedule. Consortium members include Michigan Opera Theatre and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Los Angeles Opera
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND WORKSHOP
Amount of Award: $15,000

Los Angeles Opera has commissioned Unsuk Chin and David Henry Hwang to write a new opera, with Kristen Chenoweth in the title role. The award will offset artist fees and travel expenses related to the preparation and performance of the first sing-through of the opera.

New York City Opera
HAROUN AND THE SEA OF STORIES
Amount of Award: $17,500

Charles Wuorinen and James Fenton are writing a new opera based on a novella by Salman Rushdie. The award will help offset the special costs of preparing the work, including meetings between the creative and production teams to develop a set of revisions that are required to successfully produce the work within City Opera's budget and the confines of the New York State Theater.

Opera Omaha
THE TRIAL OF STANDING BEAR
Amount of Award: $28,000

Anthony Davis and Yusef Komunyakaa will write an opera based on actual events that happened between 1877-79 in Nebraska. The creative consultant/stage director for the project is Rhoda Levine. The award will support a workshop (or workshops) in consortium with Tapestry New Opera Works.

Opera Theater of Pittsburgh
JAZZOPERA: JUST ABOVE MY HEAD
Amount of Award: $15,000

Jazz artist Nathan Davis will write an opera based on James Baldwin's novel Just Above My Head. The award will support two major workshops to allow the composer, who is writing his first opera, to explore and develop the material he has written.

San Francisco Opera
DOCTOR ATOMIC
Amount of Award: $17,500

John Adams and Peter Sellars are writing an opera about the development of the atomic bomb and the legendary figure of Dr. Oppenheimer. The award will partially underwrite a workshop that will be open to over 100 audience members who will be asked for feedback, and that will give the artistic team the opportunity to view the opera.

The Santa Fe Opera
BEL CANTO - ACT I WORKSHOP
Amount of Award: $8,125

Aaron Jay Kernis and Philip Littell are writing an opera based on the novel by Ann Patchett, in which attendees of a lavish birthday celebration are taken hostage. The award will help offset artist fees, documentation, and other costs associated with the Act I workshop.

The Banff Centre
FROBISHER
Amount of Award: $20,000

John Estacio and John Murrell are writing an opera about a contemporary Canadian filmmaker haunted by dreams of Martin Frobisher, an Elizabethan pirate and explorer. The award will support two developmental workshops which will provide preliminary dramaturgy for the complete libretto for acts I and II, as well as the musical elements of act I. This project is a partnership with Calgary Opera Association.

Canadian Opera Company
INANNA'S JOURNEY WORKSHOP
Amount of Award: $7,500

Randolph Peters and Margaret Atwood are creating an opera that retells the Sumerian legend of the goddess Innana, her trip to the underworld, and the aftermath and sacrifice. The award will support a five-day workshop for Inanna's Journey, which is scheduled to premiere in February 2007.

Chants Libres
OPÉRA-FÉERIE
Amount of Award: $30,000

Gilles Tremblay and Pierre Morency are collaborating on Opéra-Féerie. The award will allow all participants to work together on developing and experimenting throughout the creative process. The work is being developed in consortium with Opéra de Montréal.

The Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company
THE MIDNIGHT COURT
Amount of Award: $17,591

Ana Sokolovic and Paul Bentley are creating a new opera based on Frank O'Connor's translation of The Midnight Court, a bawdy Irish epic dealing with women without husbands, clerical celibacy, free love, and young women married to withered old men. The award will support a second workshop of The Midnight Court.

Tapestry New Opera Works
THE SHADOW
Amount of Award: $16,000

Omar Daniel and Alex Poch-Goldin are creating an opera that explores ideas of desire, duplicity, and the shame that occurs when people try to be something they are not. The award will be used to engage the composer/librettist in discovery with the assistance of dramaturges, workshops, and readings.

Vancouver Opera
NAOMI'S ROAD
Amount of Award: $25,000

Ramona Luengen and Ann Hodges will create a new opera for young audiences, based on Joy Kogawa's novel for children, Naomi's Road. The story details a young Japanese-Canadian girl's experience in Western Canada during World War II. The award will allow the company to engage a wide range of stakeholders in the creation of a new work, and to present three workshops that will inform the creative team during the creative process.

Chants Libres
ALTERNATE VISIONS
Amount of Award: $50,000

John Oliver and Genni Gunn are creating an electro-acoustic work about love in the age of online "chat" and virtual reality. The award will cover costs associated with producing a new work, including artist fees, travel costs for meetings, and incorporating the use of virtual reality and visual effects. An international project, Alternate Visions is being done in collaboration with Ars Electronica Centre of Linz, Austria, and Théatre National de Luxembourg.

Manitoba Opera
JASON AND HANNA
Amount of Award: $43,000

Jason and Hanna, by Mervyn Butch and Mark Morris, explores the subject of war and the plight of those children who are caught in the crossfire. The award will assist in mounting a production of Jason and Hanna, which is designed to bring together children and opera professionals in a professional opera setting.

Modern Baroque Opera
POWERS OF TWO
Amount of Award: $25,000

Barry Truax's Powers of Two is an electro-acoustic opera in four acts, primarily exploring the nature of same-sex love. The award will assist in mounting a semi-staged production, which will be marketed to a computer-minded audience.

Tapestry New Opera Works
OPERA TO GO AT THE DISTILLERY
Amount of Award: $25,000

Tapestry has commissioned four new works for an evening of intimate and accessible opera by some of Canada's hottest composers and writers. The award will support the rehearsal, design, and extraordinary costs associated with producing four new short operas.

Canadian Opera Company
THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Amount of Award: $15,000

This 45-minute opera by Dean Burry follows Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm as they gather the stories of Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, and Little Red Riding Hood. The award will be used to produce 2000 CDs to be distributed to schools and opera companies, and for a targeted commercial release.

Chants Libres
ALTERNATE VISIONS
Amount of Award: $17,500

John Oliver and Genni Gunn are creating an electro-acoustic work about love in the age of online "chat" and virtual reality. The award will facilitate recording the premiere production on DVD.

Soundstreams Canada
SOMERSFEST AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
Amount of Award: $25,000

Soundstreams plans to interest a new audience in exploring the world of opera through a festival of four operas unified not only by including three works of Harry Somers but also by the theme of the monster in myth and history. The festival will include performances, dance and music workshops, residencies, interactive projects, and projects that address the issue of holocaust art.

Tapestry New Opera Works
INSIDE OPERA
Amount of Award: $20,000

The award will go toward the implementation of an outreach program that will parallel the development of Opera to Go at the Distillery. Components include a Web site, open workshops/rehearsals, "talkback" sessions, and a comprehensive program for high school students.

Rod Ceballos
OPERA DIRECTION INTERNSHIP
Amount of Award: $4,855

The award will allow Ceballos to focus on stage direction while in residency with Tapestry New Opera Works and Opera Ontario.

Brian Current
ELECTRONIC EXTENSION OF CHAMBER OPERA
Amount of Award: $10,000

The award will allow Current to study the links between electro-acoustic music and chamber opera.

Kico Gonzalez-Risso
OPERA DIRECTION AND LIBRETTO TRAINING
Amount of Award: $9,500

The award will allow Gonzalez-Risso to work with established professionals to learn about the opera creation process.

Juliet Kiri Palmer
OPERA ACROSS CULTURES
Amount of Award: $20,000

The award will allow Palmer to study contemporary and historical operas which cross cultural boundaries, while examining Asian traditions of music drama.

James Rolfe
OPERA FOR YOUNG PERFORMERS/AUDIENCES
Amount of Award: $20,000

The award will allow Rolfe to focus on music theater specific to young performers/audiences, acquiring musical skills specific to this medium, better understanding of it dramaturgy, and establishing relationships with writers, directors, dramaturges, and producers.