The National Opera Center Reopens

After a 12-week closure for a full HVAC system replacement, OPERA America’s National Opera Center reopened its doors on September 15. The renovation also included creating three new studios — the James D. Ireland Studio on the seventh floor and two Lesenger Family Studios on the eighth floor — along with a new theatrical LED lighting system in Marc A. Scorca Hall, which offers a full spectrum of colors. Members and the public celebrated the reopening with a weeklong open house featuring studio tours and lighting demonstrations. A new, user-friendly online booking system for Opera Center renters is also coming later this year.

The refurbishment of the National Opera Center’s HVAC system was made possible with a generous gift from Barbara Augusta Teichert. The new LED lighting installation in Marc A. Scorca Hall was made possible by generous support from Alan E. Muraoka, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

2026 Commissioning Grants for Women Composers

OPERA America recently awarded a total of $135,000 in Commissioning Grants to seven Professional Company Members in support of commissions of women composers.

Beth Morrison Projects
The Silver Cypress
نیمیس ورس
Niloufar Nourbakhsh, composer; Stephanie Fleischmann, librettist
In a hostile desert world where people have lost the ability to cry, young Yatim searches for a mythic tree.

The Glimmerglass Festival
The Snow Queen 2.0
B.E. Boykin, composer; Deborah Brevoort, librettist
In this modern riff on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, a boy is seduced by an AI chatbot that promises to teach him how to be cool.

Hogfish
Wholly Unwinding
Hailey McAvoy, composer and librettist
This autobiographical work traces the composer’s journey with cerebral palsy toward embodiment, self-acceptance, and the reclamation of her voice.

Opera Memphis
Catalogue Gurl
Lisa DeSpain, composer; Jerre Dye, librettist
A man reminisces about a doll he coveted but was forbidden to have as a boy after spotting it in the 1972 Sears Wish Book.

Resonance Works
The Velveteen Rabbit
Gilda Lyons, composer and librettist
This bilingual, English-Spanish reimagining of the classic children’s story centers on a toy rabbit who becomes real through the transformative power of love.

The Industry
Si me tocaras el corazón
Tania León, composer; librettist to be announced
Based on an Isabel Allende short story, this opera follows a man who hides his mistress away in a cellar for decades to protect his political career.

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera
Song of the Lark
Laura Kaminsky, composer; Andrea Fellows Fineberg, librettist
Based on the Willa Cather novel, this opera traces a young woman’s journey from a small Colorado town to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

Opera Grants for Women Composers are generously supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.