Jasmine Arielle Barnes, for She Who Dared (Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton, librettist), a celebration of seven Black women who fought to desegregate the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama.

Sivan Eldar, for Nine Jewelled Deer (Ganavya Doraiswamy, librettist), an opera based on a Buddhist parable, the life of musician Seetha Doraiswamy, and the Vimalakirti Sutra.

Whitney George, for NO MAN’S LAND (Bea Goodwin, librettist), a story of a Faustian bargain made by a young farm girl during the Dust Bowl.

Rebecca Gray, for BUS Opera, an absurdist narrative centering on an overnight bus ride.

Elizabeth Hoffmann, for On Circe, a retelling of the Circe story from ancient Greek mythology.

Sultana Isham, for Rogue Objects (Janani Balasubramanian, librettist), an immersive opera for planetariums about the interstellar objects known as brown dwarfs.

Dina Maccabee, for Roses Are Blue (Jesse Olsen Bay, librettist), a story of a young girl’s self-discovery, based on texts by Gertrude Stein.