National Endowment for the Arts FY 2017 Fall Grant Announcement

Regents of the University of California at San Diego
$20,000 La Jolla, CA
To support the commission, development, and premiere of a multimedia chamber opera "Inheritance" by
composer Lei Lang and librettist Matt Donovan. The opera is rooted in the life and legacy of Sarah Winchester,
heir to the Winchester gun-manufacturer fortune. The story follows the eccentric widow who is self-imprisoned
in her home and seeks refuge from the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. The work will view Sarah's life
as a metaphor and a means to explore society's complex relationship with guns, and will incorporate social
awareness through satellite events that will result in symposiums and panel discussions about guns and violence
in America. The production will include a multimedia environment comprised of video, photography, and
complex interactive costuming. The creative team may include producer and soprano Susan Narucki, composer
Lei Lang, librettist Matt Donovan, and production designer Ligia Bouton who will create the costuming and video
elements. As many as three performances and a conference will take place at the University of California at San
Diego in the fall of 2018.
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (aka St. Louis Symphony; STL Symphony)
$40,000 Saint Louis, MO
To support performances of "The Gospel According to the Other Mary" by composer and NEA Opera Honoree
John Adams with a libretto by Peter Sellars. The work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra tells the story of Christ's
last days from the perspective of three people closely attached to him: Mary Magdalene, her sister Martha, and
their brother Lazarus. The libretto draws from Biblical texts, as well as stories of social injustice in modern
America from works by Dorothy Day, Rosario Castellanos, June Jordan, Louise Erdrich, and Primo Levi. The
creative team may include Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams, conductor David Robertson, mezzosopranos
Kelley O'Connor and Michaela Martens, tenor Jay Hunter Morris, and counter-tenors Daniel Bubeck,
Brian Cummings, and Nathan Medley. As many as three performances at Powell Hall (St. Louis) and at Carnegie
Hall (New York City) will take place in early 2017.
San Francisco Opera Association (aka San Francisco Opera)
$90,000 San Francisco, CA
To support the world premiere of "Girls of the Golden West" by composer and NEA Opera Honoree John Adams
and librettist Peter Sellars. The opera interweaves the true stories of three women during the Gold Rush whose
lives intersect in a small mining community of the Sierra Mountains in 1850. The creative team may include set
designer Adrianne Lobel, costume designer Rita Ryack, and lighting designer James F. Ingalls. The cast may
include sopranos Julia Bullock and Jung Lee, mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges, tenor Paul Appleby, and baritones
Davone Tines and Elliot Madore. Outreach activities will be planned in partnership with the California Historical
Society and UC Berkeley Library Archival Department; Stanford University's Women's Club will provide context
for the role of women in the Gold Rush; and the Mechanics Institute Library will lead a discussion about the
process of mining in the 1850s. A co-production with Dallas Opera, Dutch National Opera (Amsterdam,
Netherlands), and Teatro La Fenice (Venezia, Italy), as many as seven performances will be presented in the fall
of 2017 at the War Memorial Opera House.
Santa Barbara Opera Association (aka Opera Santa Barbara)
$20,000 Santa Barbara, CA
To support a new production of "The Cunning Little Vixen" by composer Leos Janacek at Opera Santa Barbara.
Based on a comic strip inspired-story, the opera tells the story of a young fox who is captured by a local forester,
grows up on his farm, and eventually escapes back to the woods to raise a family. An allegory about nature and
the cycle of life and death, the opera emphasizes the unity between man and nature in a whimsical way that is
both entertaining and moving. The creative team may include artistic director Kostis Protopapas, director Crystal
Some details of the projects listed are subject to change, contingent upon prior Arts Endowment approval. Information is current as of
December 7, 2016.