Opera America Announces Opera Grants For Female Composers

Opera America has awarded the fifth cycle of Commissioning Grants from its Opera Grants for Female Composers program to six professional opera companies across the United States.

Grants were awarded to:

• The Industry (Los Angeles, CA) for Sweet Land by Du Yun
• Lyric Opera of Chicago (Chicago, IL) for an untitled opera by Caroline Shaw
• Mill City Summer Opera (Minneapolis, MN) for Stone Arch: A Walking Opera by Mary Ellen Childs
• Opera Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) for Ten Days in a Madhouse by Rene Orth
• Opera Steamboat (Steamboat Springs, CO) for Cookie by Leanna Kirchoff
• Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, SC) for an opera on the life of Omar Ibn Said (title TBD) by Rhiannon Giddens

The six grantees will receive up to 50 percent of the composer's fee for a full production of a commissioned work, with awards of up to $50,000. Since its inception in 2014, the Opera Grants for Female Composers program has presented almost $1.1 million to opera companies and composers.