Guerillas to Receive $10,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Guerilla Opera has been approved for a $10,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support the world premiere of Island of Hope, Island of Tears with music by Boston-based composer Gabriele Vanoni, libretto by Eva Chrusciel and in collaboration with stage director and video artist Laine Rettmer.

Guerilla Opera's project is among 1,073 projects across America totaling nearly $25 million that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category. "The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project from Guerilla Opera," said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. "Guerilla Opera is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence, and resilience during this very challenging year."

Island of Hope, Island of Tears is a multimedia, immersive opera based on true stories of immigrants to the US as documented in the Ellis Island Oral Histories. It explores stories of cultural identity and that shed light on the acceptance, or intolerance, of different immigrant cultures through time. This project is expected to be 60-75 minutes in duration.

Composer, Gabriele Vanoni comments: "I am really thankful for receiving this grant from NEA. As a grandson of an immigrant, and an immigrant myself, I am really attached to these stories of people who gave up everything to begin a new life across the ocean. As the NEA website states, the Arts "belong to all the people of the United States", and I am happy to see that these stories, at the heart of the American people itself, will receive such an important recognition."

Artistic Director, Aliana de la Guardia comments: "My parents are immigrants to this country from Cuba and I'm the first generation to be born in the States. The experiences and backgrounds of the immigrants in these stories are different from mine and my family's, yet I see our same cultural and familial values reflected in each protagonist. I feel connected to them in this way and I know others will too."

For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news. For more information on Island of Hope, Island of Tears please visit guerillaopera.org/island-of-hope-island-of-tears.

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