Opera America has awarded 11 opera companies across the country grants totaling $225,000 for the continued development of new American works. Among the projects benefiting from the Repertoire Development Grants are pieces by Tony-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and Tony nominee and Pulitzer finalist Sarah Ruhl.
The New York-based Glimmerglass Festival’s grant will go toward the continued development of Blue, from Tesori (Fun Home) and librettist Tazewell Thompson. The opera, about an African-American couple whose son is killed by a police officer, will premiere in 2019 at Glimmerglass. The opera received another grant last year as part of Opera America’s program dedicated to female composers.
The Metropolitan Opera also received a grant for Eurydice, featuring a score by Matthew Aucoin and a libretto by Ruhl (In the Next Room, The Clean House). The opera, first commissioned by the Met and Lincoln Center Theater in 2015, is based on Ruhl’s play and explores the ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice through a modern, female-driven lens.
The grants, supported by the Opera Fund, can be used to offset various fees and costs in the development process, including workshops, readings, and lab productions.
American Opera Projects, with Opera Parallèle
Today It Rains (Composer Laura Kaminsky and librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed)
Beth Morrison Projects
Magda/Max (Composer Garrett Fisher and librettist Amy Schrader)
Boston Lyric Opera
Schoenberg in Hollywood (Composer Tod Machover and librettist Simon Robson)
Glimmerglass Festival
Blue (Composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson)
Houston Grand Opera
The Phoenix (Composer Tarik O’Regan and librettist John Caird)
Long Beach Opera
Five (Composer Anthony Davis and librettist Richard Wesley)
The Metropolitan Opera
Eurydice (Composer Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl)
Minnesota Opera
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Composer Paola Prestini and librettist Mark Campbell)
Opera Columbus
The Flood (Composer Korine Fujiwara and librettist Stephen Wadsworth)
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Kasi Lemmons)
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