OPERA America awards third cycle of IDEA Opera Grants to Diana Solomon-Glover, Maria Thompson Corley, Pamela Baskin-Watson & Nedra Dixon
Generously supported by the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation.
OPERA America is pleased to announce the third cycle of IDEA Opera Grants (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access), an initiative that supports teams of composers and librettists who identify as African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and/or Native American in the development of new operatic works and the advancement of their careers in the opera industry.
This year’s grantees are:
- Diana Solomon-Glover, librettist, and Maria Thompson Corley, composer, for The Boy from Troy
- Pamela Baskin-Watson, composer/librettist, and Nedra Dixon, co-librettist for A GOD • SIB'S TALE: A Folk Opera.
(See below for additional information about the artists and works.)
Each awarded team receives a prize of $12,500 to support the production of a workshop, reading, or other performance-based event, plus high-quality video recordings of workshops and working performances for promotional use. The awardees will be featured on OPERA America’s digital and social platforms and in Opera America Magazine. The artists and their work will also be introduced to field leaders at OPERA America’s New Works Forum and Opera Conference. The grants are generously supported by the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation, a family foundation committed to promoting equal rights and social justice through education, music, and the law.
The two grantee teams were selected from 38 applicant teams by an independent panel of industry experts consisting of Brent Michael Davids, composer; Leah Maddrie, librettist; Tian Hui Ng, conductor; Aria Umezawa, director, producer, and writer; Monica Yunus, soprano; and Cerise Jacobs, Charles and Cerise Jacobs Foundation.
“Embarking on the third cycle of the IDEA Opera Grants, our commitment to uplift diverse voices, stories, and faces in the opera field is stronger than ever,” stated Cerise Jacobs, president of the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation. “We are delighted to support the development of The Boy from Troy and A GOD • SIB'S TALE: A Folk Opera — works that focus on issues of social justice created by four brilliant artists of the global majority.”
“OPERA America is committed to developing the contemporary American opera repertoire so that it reflects the diversity of the nation,” remarked Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America. “Amplifying the voices of composers and librettists who are new to opera is a vital part of that work. OPERA America is grateful to the Charles and Cerise Jacobs Charitable Foundation for its continued commitment to promoting social justice through the arts.”
The IDEA Opera Grants program is complemented by the IDEA Opera Residencies program, supported by the Katherine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund of The Scherman Foundation, to promote the early work in opera by creative artists who identify as Arab/Middle Eastern/North African, Asian/Pacific Islander/South Asian, Black, Hispanic/LatinX, and/or Native America, resident in New York City. These programs join other grants that are designed to broaden and diversify the contemporary American opera repertoire. Since the inception of its granting programs, OPERA America has awarded over $20 million to the opera field to support the work of opera creators and producers.
Applications for the next round of IDEA Opera Grants will open in fall 2022. More information about OPERA America’s grant programs is available at operaamerica.org/Grants.