The winner of the second annual Campbell Opera Librettist Prize is Stephanie Fleischmann, a renowned librettist, playwright, and lyricist. The prize, conceived and supported by librettist/ lyricist Mark Campbell and administered by OPERA America, is the first award in the history of American opera created specifically to honor opera librettists, and it comes with a $7,000 award to support the winner’s creative development. A panel of independent experts selected Fleischmann from an applicant pool of 36 librettists.

The prize recognizes Fleischmann’s many contributions to opera, which include the librettos for In a Grove (Christopher Cerrone, composer), Dido Reimagined (Melinda Wagner), Poppaea (Michael Hersch), After the Storm (David Hanlon), The Long Walk (Jeremy Howard Beck), The Property (Wlad Marhulets), and Arkhipov (Peter Knell). Fleischmann also has two noteworthy premieres coming up next season: Another City (Jeremy Howard Beck), which will appear at Houston Grand Opera, and The Pigeon Keeper (David Hanlon), which will be presented by the Santa Fe Opera as part of its Opera for All Voices program.

Fleischmann was presented with the Campbell Prize this May at Opera Conference 2022 during a showcase of new works that included excerpts from Another City.

“What an honor it is to be recognized by OPERA America’s Campbell Opera Librettist Prize,” Fleischmann reflected. “And to have been afforded the privilege of finding my voice in communion with so many brilliant composer compatriots. Merging words with music is a mysterious vocation indeed. But there’s nothing I love more than building worlds, asking questions, telling stories, dreaming into impossibly heartbreaking, soaring, mind-bending moments in collusion with, and galvanized by, music. Anything is possible in opera. I am so grateful to Mark Campbell for his vision, generosity, and intrepid advocacy for the librettist’s contribution to this ever-evolving form.”