The Next Generation of BIPOC Creators
The IDEA Opera Residencies program, which focuses on new-to-opera creators from groups that have historically been excluded from contemporary American opera, welcomes three outstanding artists for 2022. Composer/librettist Bonita Oliver will explore ways of integrating opera and augmented reality. Composer Yosvany Terry plans to dedicate his time to writing Aponte, an opera about a 19th-century Afro-Cuban hero who ignited the 1812 rebellion in Cuba to overthrow slavery. Composer/librettist Qian Yi will combine Eastern and Western music forms and theater techniques to write The Encompassing, an opera about three women in China and the United States.
The residents were selected by an independent panel of distinguished artists. Each residency comes with a $22,500 package that includes direct grants for the exploration of opera as an artistic medium, career and promotional support, and recording services and facility rentals.
“The IDEA Opera Residencies celebrate OPERA America’s conviction that different perspectives, cultural histories, life experiences, and personal stories will enrich the contemporary American opera repertoire,” says Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America. “This year’s residents are part of the future of opera and its potential to reflect the world around us.”
The artists look forward to beginning their residencies in January. “I’m excited to explore and experiment with my own alchemy, to create my own future song from an ancestral promise,” says Yi.
IDEA Opera Residences are generously supported by the Katherine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund of The Scherman Foundation.
