National Endowment for the Arts FY 2017 Fall Grant Announcement

employment, a support system, and a safe environment to try new repertoire, take artistic risks, and work on
their craft. Participants will receive professional experience in a regional opera company as they will be engaged
to make their professional debut in principal roles in Opera Columbus' mainstage productions. Artistic Director
Peggy Kriha Dye will work with Juilliard Director of Opera Studies Stephen Wadsworth to determine principal
roles suited for each student, who will be featured in new productions during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
Repertoire may include Mozart's "Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail" ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"), Bizet's
"Carmen," and Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor."
Opera Delaware, Inc. (aka OperaDelaware)
$10,000 Wilmington, DE
To support a new production of "Semiramide" by Gioachino Rossini, as part of the second annual Rossini
Festival. The two-act opera, based on Voltaire's tragedy "Semiramis," finds its roots in the ancient Greek
tragedies. Set in ancient Babylon around 2000 BCE, the Assyrian queen (Semiramide) had helped her lover
(Prince Assur) murder her husband (King Nino) and is choosing his successor-an Assyrian commander (Arsace)
who unbeknownst to her is Semiramide and King Nino's long lost son. The creative team may include conductor
Anthony Barrese and director Dean Anthony. The principal artists may include soprano Susanna Biller, mezzosoprano
Aleksandra Romano, tenor Tim Augustin, and bass-baritones Daniel Mobbs and Justin Hopkins. As many
as two performances will occur in the Grand Opera House in the spring of 2017.
Opera Lafayette
$20,000 Washington, DC
To support performances of a concert of opera excerpts that will musically explore Versailles during the reigns of
Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. The concert will feature three soloists, a small chorus, and a period instrument chamber
orchestra and may comprise excerpts from Gluck's "Armide," Lully's "Acis et Galatee," Rameau's "Les Indes
Galantes," Monsigny's "Le Roi et la fermier and Le Deserteur," Rebel and Francoeur's "Zelindor, roi des Sylphes,"
and Gretry's "Richard Coeur-de-Lion." Performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be part of the
MetLiveArts series. The creative team may include conductor Ryan Brown, MetLiveArt's general manager Limor
Tomer, and curator Danielle Kisluk-Grosheide. Performances are scheduled to occur at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art's Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium (New York City) and George Washington University's Lisner
Auditorium (Washington, D.C.) in spring 2018.
Opera Memphis, Inc. (aka Opera Memphis)
$15,000 Memphis, TN
To support 30 Days of Opera. Launched in 2012 as an outreach initiative with the goal of breaking down barriers
that prevent new audiences from attending opera, the festival has successfully reached more than 100,000
people with more than 150 performances in at least 80 different locations. The sixth year of the month-long
initiative may comprise admission-free concerts, opera performances for schools, an original children's opera,
"pop-up" opera performances, and a family day at the opera. Activities will also include educational workshops
at community centers. As many as 50 admission-free opera-related events will be held at public venues in the
fall of 2017.
Opera San Jose, Inc. (aka Opera San Jose)
$20,000 San Jose, CA
To support performances of "Silent Night" by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell. Winner of a
2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music, the opera is based on Christian Carion's screenplay for the film "Joyeux Noel," and
tells the story of enemy soldiers who spontaneously declared a temporary cease-fire on Christmas Eve 1914 to
celebrate the holiday together and bury their dead. The work captures the dichotomy of love and war, and
Some details of the projects listed are subject to change, contingent upon prior Arts Endowment approval. Information is current as of
December 7, 2016.