Opera San José Loses $25K In NEA Grant Funding

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced on Friday, May 2, that the NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects “that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity” as prioritized by President Donald Trump.

Opera San José received an offer of $25,000 from the NEA specifically to support its new production of Zorro by composer and librettist Héctor Armienta, a production that completed its run of performances on May 4. Opera San José's production of Zorro was presented in collaboration with Kentucky Opera and Arizona Opera. Opera San José was one of 37 recipients of the NEA grant for “Grants for Arts Projects – Opera," which totaled $1,070,000 for these organizations.

Shawna Lucey, CEO/General Director of Opera San José said in a statement, “On Friday, May 2, at 5:45pm, just as we were opening the historic California Theatre for our final weekend of performances of the opera Zorro, we received an email telling us our grant for this production had been withdrawn.  We are devastated. What makes this particularly ironic is the notification that the “NEA will now prioritize projects that elevate … Hispanic Serving Institutions.” Our production of Zorro was sung in Spanish and English, and like all our operas, features both English and Spanish supertitles. For some years now, Opera San José has prioritized accessibility to its Hispanic community with bilingual supertitles. We have also focused on presenting operas that speak to that community, such as Zorro, which tells the story of colonial California and its struggle towards independence from Spanish rule. Our final performance of Zorro concluded on Sunday, May 4.  We have now turned our attention to finding ways to cover this shortfall.”