OPERA America Awards Second Round of 2023 Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors

Learn more about the awardees here!

By: May. 26, 2023
OPERA America Awards Second Round of 2023 Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors

OPERA America has announced the second-round recipients of the 2023 Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors.

Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors open doors for women artists by incentivizing professional opera companies of all sizes to engage women in key artistic roles. These hires enrich the production and performance of new operas and works from the inherited repertoire and inspire future generations of creative artists who identify as women. The initiative is generously supported by the Marineau Family Foundation as part of OPERA America’s commitment to improve gender parity in the field.

Grants were awarded to four opera companies that are advancing the careers of women artists:

  • Arizona Opera (Phoenix, AZ)
  • Cincinnati Opera (Cincinnati, OH)
  • Opera Parallèle (San Francisco, CA)
  • White Snake Projects (Brookline, MA)

Respectively, the grants support company debuts by the following stage directors and conductors:

  • Sarah Ina Meyers, who will direct Frankenstein (Gregg Kallor, composer/librettist) at Arizona Opera
  • Stephanie Rhodes Russell, who will conduct The Knock (Aleksandra Vrebalov, composer; Deborah Brevoort, librettist) at Cincinnati Opera
  • Yayoi Kambara, who will direct The Emissary (Kenji Oh, composer; Kelley Rourke, librettist) at Opera Parallèle
  • Roxanna Myhrum, who will direct MONKEY: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable (Jorge Sosa, composer; Cerise Lim Jacobs, librettist) at White Snake Projects

(See below for additional information about the artists.)

Since it was introduced in 2021, the Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Composers program has supported the career advancement of 18 stage directors and 10 conductors. OPERA America’s professional opera company members are invited to apply for grants to subsidize up to 50 percent (up to $10,000) of the fees for women stage directors or conductors who will make their company debuts with the companies in these positions. Grants are awarded in two semiannual rounds; the first round of 2023 awardees was announced in February 2023 (read the press release).

“This latest group of the Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Composers winners exemplifies the commitment of opera companies across the country to bring new voices into opera. From Boston to San Francisco, audiences will enjoy four contemporary works helmed by the women supported by these grants,” remarked Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America. “We look forward to seeing the work of these women who will shape the future of the art form.”

The Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors program is one of OPERA America’s resources aimed at increasing gender parity across the field. Other initiatives include the Opera Grants for Women Composers, Mentorship Program for Women Administrators, and Women’s Opera Network.

Since the inception of its granting programs in the mid-1980s, OPERA America has awarded over $23 million to the opera field to support the work of opera creators, administrators, and companies.

More information about OPERA America’s grant programs is available at operaamerica.org/Grants.



RELATED STORIES - Opera

1
Fourteen New Musicians From Across The Globe Join Ensemble Connect Photo
Fourteen New Musicians From Across The Globe Join Ensemble Connect

Learn about the 14 talented musicians joining Ensemble Connect's prestigious fellowship program for its 17th season. Discover the global diversity and artistry they bring to this renowned musical ensemble.

2
Review: At Philadelphia’s O23, UNHOLY WARS Shows What’s Old is New Again Photo
Review: At Philadelphia’s O23, UNHOLY WARS Shows What’s Old is New Again

According to creator and star tenor Karim Sulayman, UNHOLY WARS, a 70-minute opera pastiche that made its debut on Saturday at Philadelphia Opera’s O23 Festival, “stitches together a collection of baroque music centered around the Middle East and the Crusades, examining the separation of the human race based on creed and color.” The result was a creative multi-visual/musical work with dance, drawing heavily on Monteverdi’s IL COMBATTIMENTO DI TANCREDI E CLORINDA, supplemented by Baroque arias and modern electronic music.

3
Review: Met Audience Entranced by DiDonato and McKinny in Heggie-McNally DEAD MAN in House Photo
Review: Met Audience Entranced by DiDonato and McKinny in Heggie-McNally DEAD MAN in House Debut

It’s rather surprising, really, for the audience to embrace a contemporary piece like DEAD MAN WALKING, no matter how easily it falls upon the ears, considering the subject matter. In this Ivo van Hove production, it starts with a rape and double murder in a rather graphic piece of film, the use of video being one of van Hove’s trademarks. It ends with a death by lethal injection, also graphically shown in live video.

4
Review Roundup: DEAD MAN WALKING at the Metropolitan Opera Photo
Review Roundup: DEAD MAN WALKING at the Metropolitan Opera

xThe reviews are in for the premiere production of the new Met season, Dead Man Walking. American composer Jake Heggie’s masterpiece, the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years, has its highly anticipated Met premiere, in a haunting new production by Ivo van Hove.

More Hot Stories For You

Videos


#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Simon Bode / Jonathan Ware
Carnegie Hall (10/28-10/28)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# SongStudio: Nicholas Phan Master Class
Carnegie Hall (1/23-1/23)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Justin Austin / Howard Watkins
Carnegie Hall (3/05-3/05)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Ema Nikolovska / Howard Watkins
Carnegie Hall (3/28-3/28)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Camille’s Rainbow
Carnegie Hall (10/31-10/31)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Lea Desandre / Thomas Dunford
Carnegie Hall (11/02-11/02)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Matthias Goerne / Evgeny Kissin
Carnegie Hall (4/25-4/25)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# SongStudio: Young Artists Recital
Carnegie Hall (1/27-1/27)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# Regula Mühlemann / Tatiana Korsunskaya
Carnegie Hall (5/08-5/08)
#repshow# in #getregions.name[i]# SongStudio: Angel Blue Master Class
Carnegie Hall (1/24-1/24)
VIEW ALL SHOWS  ADD A SHOW