The Atlanta Opera Awards $10k And Commission To Perry And Davila For THE SICKNESS

Composer Gillian Rae Perry and librettist David Davilla won the fifth annual 96 Hour Opera Project, a signature event at The Atlanta Opera's annual NOW Festival. The duo took home the top prize for their work, The Sickness, performed in front of a live audience at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College on Saturday night.

The winning work was selected from among five completely new 10-minute operas completed and staged in just four days – 96 hours – by teams of composers and librettists selected for the compositional competition and showcase. Audiences also enjoyed a special preview scene from Rosenbaum and Li, last year's winning project by composer Dina Pruzhansky and librettist Hai-Ting Chinn, now in development toward its full premiere with The Atlanta Opera in 2027.

This year's NOW Festival also featured the world premiere of Kitty Brazelton and Vaibu Mohan's Water Memory (Jala Smriti), a one-act opera that weaves a deeply personal story of memory, family, and identity with timely questions about the role of artificial intelligence in our lives. Presented in partnership with Georgia Tech Arts, Water Memory (Jala Smriti) premiered on June 12 with an encore performance on June 14.

For this year's 96 Hour Opera Project competition, each team was invited to develop an original story focused on the Georgia Gold Rush of 1828 and its far-reaching consequences, including the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the Trail of Tears.

The Sickness, the winning entry by Perry and Davila, is set during Georgia's Gold Rush on Cherokee land and follows the story of Eliana Banks as she struggles against the greed and corruption consuming her community. Torn between loyalty to the Cherokee man she loves and the promise of security offered by a lucrative gold deal, Eliana fears the same hunger for power that shaped her family may also live within her. Haunted by visions and pressured by her father's failing health, she must decide whether to protect the land or surrender to the forces threatening to destroy it.   

In the judged competition, While the Sky is Still Gold by composer Thomas Whitman and librettist Gabriel Jenkinson was selected as Runner-Up. In addition to winning the Antinori Foundation Grand Prize, The Sickness by Perry and Davila was also selected by popular vote for the Audience Favorite award.    

Perry and Davila will share the $10,000 Antinori Foundation Grand Prize and a commission from The Atlanta Opera to write a chamber opera. The remaining eight finalists received a $1,000 honorarium. Travel, housing, singers, pianists, and rehearsal space were provided by The Atlanta Opera with support from Morehouse College.