A/B Testing Grants: Supporting Experimentation in Audience Building
$300,000 awarded | Funded by The Dr. M. Lee Pearce Foundation, Inc.
Supporting opera companies in experimenting with audience-building strategies and measurable testing.
- Detroit Opera (Detroit, MI)
- Florentine Opera (Milwaukee, WI)
- Heartbeat Opera (New York, NY)
- LA Opera (Los Angeles, CA)
- Minnesota Opera (Minneapolis, MN)
- Opera Colorado (Englewood, CO)
- Opera Orlando (Orlando, FL)
- Opera San José (San José, CA)
- Pacific Opera Victoria (Victoria, BC)
- Pittsburgh Opera (Pittsburgh, PA)
- San Diego Opera (San Diego, CA)
- Seattle Opera (Seattle, WA)
- Utah Symphony | Utah Opera (Salt Lake City, UT)
- Vancouver Opera (Vancouver, BC)
Civic Practice Grants
$180,000 awarded | Funded by OPERA America’s Opera Fund
Supporting the development of authentic partnerships between opera companies and their local communities.
- Boston Lyric Opera (Boston, MA)
- LA Opera (Los Angeles, CA)
- Opera Parallèle (San Francisco, CA)
- Pacific Opera Victoria (Victoria, BC)
- San Diego Opera (San Diego, CA)
- Volcano Non-Profit Productions (Toronto, ON)
- White Snake Projects (Boston, MA)
IDEA Opera Grants
$54,000 awarded | Funded by the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation
Supporting creators who identify as Arab, Asian, Black, Latinx, Native American, and/or Pacific Islander in developing new operatic works.
- Amir ElSaffar, composer, and Zahra Ali, librettist, for Ruins of the Encampment
- Alphonso Horne, composer, and Tara L. Wilson Noth, librettist, for Storyville: The Opera
- Alex Wakim, composer, and Gregory Jafari Van Acker, librettist, for The “B!tchelorette”
Marineau Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors
$50,000 awarded | Funded by the Marineau Family Foundation
Supporting the career advancement of women in key artistic leadership roles.
- American Opera Projects (Brooklyn, NY)
Rebekah Heller, conductor of Barcelona, Map of Shadows
- Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (Dayton, OH)
Chelsea Gallo, conductor of Carmen
- The Glimmerglass Festival (Cooperstown, NY)
Chía Patiño, director of The House on Mango Street
- Houston Grand Opera (Houston, TX)
Kaneza Schaal, director of Aida
- Opera Columbus (Columbus, OH)
Mila Henry, conductor of The Old Man and the Sea
- Opera Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
Jenny Koons, director of Sleepers Awake
- Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera (Sacramento, CA)
Sahar Nouri, conductor of La traviata
- San Francisco Opera (San Francisco, CA)
Diane Paulus, director of The Monkey King
- Teatro Grattacielo (New York, NY)
Anna Laura Miszerak, director of L’amico Fritz
New Works Exploration Fund
$13,490 | Funded by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation
Reimbursing travel expenses to see new operas by American women composers and explore future workshops or productions.
- American Opera Projects (Brooklyn, NY)
- Austin Opera (Austin, TX)
- Beth Morrison Projects (Brooklyn, NY)
- Central City Opera (Central City, CO)
- El Paso Opera (El Paso, TX)
- Kentucky Opera (Louisville, KY)
- North Carolina Opera (Raleigh, NC)
- Opera Montana (Bozeman, MT)
- Opera Parallèle (San Francisco, CA)
- Pacific Opera Project (Victoria, BC)
- The Santa Fe Opera (Santa Fe, NM)
Next Stage Grants
$165,000 awarded | Funded by OPERA America
Supporting subsequent productions of North American operas to ensure important works reach broader audiences.
- LA Opera (Los Angeles, CA) for The Old Man and the Sea (Paola Prestini, composer; Royce Vavrek, librettist)
- Maryland Opera (Baltimore, MD) for Oshun (B.E. Boykin, composer; Jarrod Lee, librettist)
- Nashville Opera (Nashville, TN) for Fortuna the Time Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom (Jason Powell, composer and librettist)
- Opera Southwest (Albuquerque, NM) for Salsipuedes: A Tale of Love, War and Anchovies (Daniel Catán, composer; Eliseo Alberto and Francisco Hinojosa, librettists)
- Resonance Works (Pittsburgh, PA) for The Jungle Book (Kamala Sankaram, composer; Kelley Rourke, librettist)
- Soundstreams (Toronto, ON) for Pimooteewin (Melissa Hui, composer; Tomson Highway, librettist)
- Washington National Opera (Washington, D.C.) for Treemonisha (Scott Joplin, composer and librettist. New performing edition by Damien Sneed, composer; Kyle Bass, playwright.)
National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards
Honoring outstanding trustees for their exemplary leadership and service on behalf of their organizations.
- Marc Chalifoux,* Against the Grain Theatre (Toronto, ON)
- Jeffrey Cunard, Washington National Opera (Washington, D.C.)
- Janet Farrell, IN Series (Washington, D.C.)
- Erin Flannery, Experiments in Opera (Brooklyn, NY)
- Liz Kathman Grubow, Cincinnati Opera (Cincinnati, OH)
- Robert Milne,* Pacific Opera Victoria (Victoria, BC)
- Mel Weingart, OPERA San Antonio (San Antonio, TX)
* Recipient of the Association for Opera in Canada’s Best in Governance Award.
Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grants
$135,000 awarded | Funded by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation
Supporting commissioning fees for new operas by women composers.
- Beth Morrison Projects (Brooklyn, NY) for Star Singer
Juhi Bansal, composer (Neil Aitken, librettist)
- Experiments in Opera (Brooklyn, NY) for Emma: A Chamber Opera for Soprano and Percussion Ensemble
Annie Gosfield, composer and librettist
- Fisher Center at Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY) for Suddenly Last Summer
Courtney Bryan, composer (Gideon Lester and Daniel Fish, librettists)
- Opera Ebony(New York, NY) for Finding the Light
Jasmine Arielle Barnes, composer (Anita Gonzalez, librettist)
- San Francisco Opera (San Francisco, CA) for The Galloping Cure
Missy Mazzoli, composer (Royce Vavrek, librettist)
Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants
$100,000 awarded | Funded by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation
Supporting early-stage development of new operas by women creators.
- Jamey Guzman, composer, for Open Heart Surgery (Caroline Cao and Jude O'Dell, librettists)
- Wang Lu, composer, for The Red Thread (Deborah Brevoort, librettist)
- Angélica Negrón, composer and librettist, for Chimera (working title)
- Molly Pease, composer, for HYSTERIA (Divya Maus, librettist)
- Beth Ratay, composer, forThe Morpheus Quartet (John Glore, librettist)
- Bahar Royaee, composer and music director, for Nava Avaz (Sholeh Wolpé, librettist)
- Joelle Wallach, composer, for Esperanza (Alejandra Martinez, librettist)
- Emily Wells, composer and librettist, for Cadillac Ranch
Opera RESPECTS Training Awards
Supporting respectful, equitable organizational culture and workplace practices.
- Central City Opera (Central City, CO)
- OPERA San Antonio (San Antonio, TX)
- San Diego Opera (San Diego, CA)
Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize
$12,000 | Funded by the Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
Supporting visionary director-designer partnerships shaping the future of opera production.
- Héctor 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
- Estefanía 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
- Marinette Gomez, director; Hayley E. Wallenfeldt, set designer; John Polles, costume designer; and Seojung Jang, lighting designer, for a production concept for Breaking the Waves
- 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
