Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants
Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants support the development of new operas by women composers, advancing the important objective to increase gender parity and diversity across the field.
Discovery Grants support women composers in their exploration of opera as an artistic medium, providing funding for activities such as libretto readings, workshops, and working performances.
OPERA America believes that different perspectives, cultural histories, life experiences, and personal stories enrich the operatic repertoire. OPERA America is dedicated to supporting creators who reflect the diversity of the nation.
Opera Grants for Women Composers are supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Grant Details
The 2024–2025 Discovery Grants have been awarded.
The guidelines and worksheets below, from the 2024–2025 grants, are provided for reference purposes only.
Guidelines & Worksheets
- 2024–2025 Guidelines (PDF)
- Intent to Apply Questions (PDF)
- Application Questions (PDF)
- Budget Template (XLSX)
For questions, contact us at Grants@operaamerica.org or 646.699.5236.
Meet the Grantees
2025
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Jamey Guzman | Caroline Cao and Jude O'Dell | Open Heart Surgery |
| Wang Lu | Deborah Brevoort | The Red Thread |
| Angélica Negrón | Angélica Negrón | Chimera (working title) |
| Molly Pease | Divya Maus | HYSTERIA |
| Beth Ratay | John Glore | The Morpheus Quartet |
| Bahar Royaee | Sholeh Wolpé | Nava Avaz |
| Joelle Wallach | Alejandra Martinez | Esperanza |
| Emily Wells | Emily Wells | Cadillac Ranch |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2024
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Jasmine Arielle Barnes | Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton | She Who Dared |
| Sivan Eldar | Ganavya Doraiswamy | Nine Jewelled Deer |
| Whitney George | Bea Goodwin | NO MAN'S LAND |
| Rebecca Gray | Rebecca Gray | BUS Opera |
| Elizabeth Hoffman | Elizabeth Hoffman | On Circe |
| Sultana Isham | Janani Balasubramanian | Rogue Objects |
| Dina Maccabbee | Jesse Olsen Bay | Roses Are Blue |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2023
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Tamar Muskal | Daniel Kramer | Nadia |
| Juhi Bansal | Neil Aitken | Star Singer |
| Annie Gosfield | Christopher Merrill | Peggy and Jackson |
| Jennifer Jolley | Hai-Ting Chinn | Spacewalk |
| Dana Kaufman | Aiden Feltkamp | Sally Ride |
| Shara Nova | Shara Nova | The Subnivean Zone: Under the Snow |
| Bernadette Speach | Thulani Davis | The Little Rock Nine |
| Jennifer Williams | Jennifer Williams | Dis/Inform |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2022
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Layale Chaker | Lisa Schlesinger | Ruinous Gods |
| Ashi Day | Ashi Day | Waking the Witch |
| Susan Kander | Susan Kander and Roberta Gumbel | Carry My Own Suitcase |
| Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti | Anne Leilehua Lanzilott | Lili’u |
| Pamela Madsen | Pamela Madsen and Quintan Ana Wikswo | Why Women Went West: Eleven Eleisons from East to West |
| Rachel J. Peters | Kevin Thomas Townley Jr. | Nothing Except My Genius (working title) |
| Amber Vistein | Amber Vistein | Dark Exhalation |
| Alyssa Weinberg | J. Mae Barizo | DRIFT |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2021
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Gelsey Bell | Gelsey Bell | mɔːnɪŋ |
| Christina Campanella | Stephanie Fleischmann | The Visitation |
| Asako Hirabayashi | Asako Hirabayashi | Hebi-onna (Snake Woman) |
| Angel Lam | Richard Caliban and Angel Lam | Lost Shanghai |
| Shuying Li | Julian Crouch | When the Purple Mountains Burn |
| Nicole Paris and Katherine Skovira | Nicole Paris, Katherine Skovira, and Robert Whalen | ?this is my Body |
| Bora Yoon | Bora Yoon | ‘아가씨’, Handmaiden [Mademoiselle] |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2020
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Lisa Bielawa | Claire Solomon and Laurie Rubin, with found texts | Centuries in the Hours |
| Justine F. Chen | Stephanie Fleischmann | Seven Sisters |
| Melissa Dunphy | Jacqueline Goldfinger | Alice Tierney |
| Johanny Navarro | José Félix Gómez | ¿Y los Pasteles? Ópera Jíbara en Dos Actos (Where Are the Pasteles? Jibaro Opera in Two Acts) |
| Milica Paranosic | Cheri Magid | Penelope and the Geese |
| Kirsten Volness | Susan Werbe and Kate Holland | Letters That You Will Not Get: Women's Voices from the Great War |
| Mary D. Watkins | Mary D. Watkins | Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2019
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Taylor Ellis | Ellen McLaughlin | The Trojan Women |
| Donia Jarrar | Donia Jarrar | Seamstress |
| Virginia Leishman | Joan Schirle | Bird of the Inner Eye |
| Carla Maria Lucero | Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Carla Maria Lucero | Juana |
| Kristin Norderval | Julian Crouch | The Sailmaker´s Wife |
| Niloufar Nourbakhsh | Lisa Flanagan | We the Innumerable |
| Celka Ojakangas | Amy Punt | Turbulent Mirror |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2018
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Lisa DeSpain | Adapted from Robert Bloch | That Hell Bound Train |
| Germaine Franco | Nancy De Los Santos and Alejandra Martinez |
¡La Capitana! |
| Elizabeth Kelly | Elizabeth Kelly | Losing Her Voice |
| Leanna Kirchoff | Rachel J. Peters | Friday After Friday |
| Veronika Krausas | André Alexis | Ghost Opera |
| Alexa Dexa | Alexa Dexa | Be A Doll |
| Julia Meinwald | Gordon Leary | REB+VoDKa+ME |
| Liza Seigido | Based on Petrarch’s Canzoniere | Cyborgs are Dancing |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2017
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Faye Chiao | Anton Dudley | Island of the Moon |
| Ellen Fishman | Julia Curcio | Marie Begins |
| Grace Oberhofer | Helen Banner | Icons/Idols |
| Tawnie Olson | Roberta Barker | Sanctuary and Storm |
| Frances Pollock | Tia Price and Frances Pollock | Stinney: An American Execution |
| Kate Soper | Kate Soper | The Romance of the Rose |
| Dalit Warshaw | Carol Hebald | Delusion of Grandeur |
| Cynthia Lee Wong | Richard Aellen | No Guarantees |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2016
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Julia Adolphe | Nahal Navidar | So Donia Speaks |
| Mary Ellen Childs | Claire Porter | On Beyond |
| Emily Doolittle | Peter Guy | Jan Tait and the Bear |
| Nkeiru Okoye | David Cote | We've Got Our Eye on You |
| Rene Orth | Jason Kim | Machine |
| Elena Ruehr | Gretchen Henderson | Crafting the Bonds |
| Laura Schwendinger | Ginger Strand | Artemisia |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2015
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Kitty Brazelton | Kitty Brazelton | The Art of Memory |
| Odaline de la Martinez | Joan Anim-Addo | Imoinda |
| Laura Karpman | Gail Collins | Balls |
| Patricia Leonard | John and Abigail Adams | My Dearest Friend |
| Jing Jing Luo | Jing Jing Luo | Ashima |
| Kamala Sankaram | Rob Handel | The Privacy Show |
| Su Lian Tan | Anne Babson | Lotus Lives |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2014
| Composer | Librettist | Work |
|---|---|---|
| Anna Clyne | (Emily Dickinson) Steve Weiner | As Sudden Shut |
| Michelle DiBucci | Text by Charlotte Salomon, adapted by Michelle DiBucci | Der Tod und die Malerin (Death and the Painter) |
| Man Fang | Jie Guo | Golden Lily |
| Laura Kaminsky | Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed | As One |
| Kristin Kuster | Megan Levad | Old Presque Isle |
| Anne LeBaron | Gerd Stern and Edward Rosenfeld | Psyche & Delia (LSD: The Opera) |
| Sheila Silver | Stephen Kitsakos | A Thousand Splendid Suns |
| Luna Pearl Woolf | David Van Taylor | The Pillar |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.