Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grants
Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grants support Professional Company Members in commissioning new operatic works by women composers.
Commissioning Grants are intended to help offset the composer’s contract fee relating to the commission of a fully produced new work.
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 2025 Commissioning Grants have been awarded.
Professional Company Member staff can log in to view past grant guidelines and other application materials. To learn about becoming a Professional Company Member, visit Organizational Membership.
Meet the Grantees
2025 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beth Morrison Projects | Star Singer | Juhi Bansal | Neil Aitken |
|
Experiments in Opera |
Emma: A Chamber Opera for Soprano and Percussion Ensemble | Annie Gosfield | Annie Gosfield |
| Fisher Center at Bard College | Suddenly Last Summer | Courtney Bryan | Gideon Lester and Daniel Fish |
| Opera Ebony | Finding the Light | Jasmine Arielle Barnes | Anita Gonzalez |
| San Francisco Opera | The Galloping Cure | Missy Mazzoli | Royce Vavrek |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2024 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Lyric Theater | She Who Dared | Jasmine Arielle Barnes | Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton |
|
On Site Opera Co-producers: Seattle Opera, Tri-Cities Opera, and Opera in the Heights |
Lucidity | Laura Kaminsky | David Cote |
| Opera on Tap | The Singing Cabinets | Kamala Sankaram | Jerre Dye |
| Opera Saratoga | DRIFT | Alyssa Weinberg | J. Mae Barizo |
| Spoleto Festival USA | Untitled Work | Paola Prestini | Robin Coste Lewis |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2023 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beth Morrison Projects | Sensorium Ex | Paola Prestini | Brenda Shaughnessy |
| Houston Grand Opera | The Big Swim | Meilina Tsui | Melisa Tien |
| Los Angeles Opera | The Tower of Babel | Carla Lucero | Carla Lucero |
| Pittsburgh Opera | Time to Act (working title) | Laura Kaminsky | Crystal Manich |
| White Snake Projects | Splitting Sand | Jing Jing Luo | Cerise Lim Jacobs |
| White Snake Projects | Is This America? The Story of Fannie Lou Hamer | Mary Watkins | Cerise Lim Jacobs |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2022 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| The American Opera Project | Jade Star Hotel | Stephanie Chou | Susan Kander |
| Beth Morrision Projects | Old Man and the Sea | Paola Prestini | Royce Vavrek |
| Finger Lakes Opera | Two Corners | B.E. Boykin | Jarrod Lee |
| Long Beach Opera | Death, both of us dead | Shelley Washington | To Be Announced |
| Opera Birmingham | Touch | Carla Lucero | Marianna Mott Newirth |
| Opera San José | To Be Announced | Rene Orth | Rene Orth |
| Spoleto Festival USA | Ruinous Gods | Layale Chaker | Lisa Schlesinger |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2020 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| The American Opera Project | Precipice | Rima Fand | Karen Fisher |
| Beth Morrision Projects | In Our Daughter’s Eyes | Du Yun | Michael Joseph McQuiken |
| Boston Lyric Opera | The Desert Inn (working title) | Ellen Reid | Christopher Oscar Peña |
| Guerilla Opera | HER:alive/un/dead: a media opera | Emily Koh | Emily Koh |
| HERE | A Practical Breviary: Terce | Heather Christian | Heather Christian |
| Houston Grand Opera | Turn and Burn, a Rodeo Opera | Nell Shaw Cohen | Megan Cohen |
| Opera on Tap | Joan of the City | Kamala Sankaram | Kamala Sankaram, Kristin Marting, original texts from interviews with homeless individuals, and found texts |
| Opera Orlando | The Secret River | Stella C.Y. Sung | Mark Campbell |
| Opera Philadelphia | The Listeners | Missy Mazzoli | Royce Vavrek |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2019 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Industry | Sweet Land | Du Yun | Douglas Kearney and Aja Couchois Duncan |
| Lyric Opera of Chicago | TBD: Isolation and Loneliness | Caroline Shaw | Sarah Kay |
| Mill City Summer Opera | Stone Arch: A Walking Opera | Mary Ellen Childs | Mary Ellen Childs (from found texts), with Crystal Manich, dramaturg |
| Opera Philadelphia | Ten Days in a Madhouse | Rene Orth | Hannah Moscovitch |
| Opera Steamboat | Cookie | Leanna Kirchoff | Rachel Peters |
| Spoleto Festival USA | Opera on the Life of Omar Ibn Said | Rhiannon Giddens | Rhiannon Giddens |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2018 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beth Morrison Projects | Adoration | Mary Kouyoumdjian | Rob Handel |
| On Site Opera | Lady Murasaki and the Tale of Genji (working title) | Michi Wianko | Deborah Brevoort |
| Opera on Tap | Looking At You | Kamala Sankaram | Jerre Dye |
| Opera Philadelphia | Ashes (working title) | Jennifer Higdon | Royce Vavrek |
| Washington National Opera | Taking Up Serpents | Kamala Sankaram | Jerre Dye |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2017 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Grand Opera | Home of My Ancestors | Nkeiru Okoye | Anita Gonzalez |
| Minnesota Opera | The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane | Paola Prestini | Mark Campell |
| Opera Parallèle | Today It Rains | Laura Kaminsky | Mark Campbell |
| Sarasota Opera | Rootabaga Country | Rachel J. Peters | Rachel J. Peters |
| Seattle Opera | A Thousand Splendid Suns | Sheila Silver | Stephen Kitsakos |
| Washington National Opera | Proving Up | Missy Mazzoli | Royce Vavrek |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2016 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Opera Projects | Gulliver's Travels | Victoria Bond | Stephen Greco |
| Ardea Arts | Animal Tales | Kitty Brazelton | George Plimpton |
| Beth Morrison Projects | The Living Light | Sarah Kirkland Snider | Nathaniel Bellows |
| The Glimmerglass Festival | Blue | Jeanine Tesori | Tazewell Thompson |
| Houston Grand Opera | Some Light Emerges | Laura Kaminsky | Mark Campbell/Kim Reed |
| Opera Colorado | The Scarlet Letter | Lori Laitman | David Mason |
| Opera Columbus | The Flood of 1913 | Korine Fujiwara | Stephen Wadsworth |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.
2015 Recipients
| Opera Company | Work | Composer | Librettist |
|---|---|---|---|
| The American Opera Project | To Kill That Bird | Wang Jie | Anne Babson |
| Arizona Opera | The Last Dream of Frida and Diego | Gabriela Lena Frank | Nilo Cruz |
| Beth Morrison Projects | Winter's Child | Ellen Reid | Amanda Jane Shark |
| Glimmerglass Festival | Wilde Tales | Laura Karpman | Kelley Rourke |
| The Industry | HOPSCOTCH | Ellen Reid | Mandy Kahn |
| Opera Philadelphia | Breaking the Waves | Missy Mazzoli | Royce Vavrek |
Learn more about grant projects in the press release.