We are thrilled to announce our receipt of the Repertoire Development Grant from Opera America - our first grant from Opera America!

This grant will help fund our collaboration with the Seagle Festival and National Sawdust to present A River Runs Through It - A Page to Stage Preview Spring 2026 in Brooklyn, NY

Check out the press release below to learn more - how exciting that A River Runs Through It was unnanounced when this was released!

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OPERA America Awards $220,000 in Grants to Eight Companies to Develop New American Operas

January 12, 2026 (New York) — OPERA America is pleased to announce grants totaling $220,000 to eight opera companies through its Repertoire Development Grants program.

The biennial Repertoire Development Grants provide financial support to OPERA America Professional Company Members for the development of new American operas and music theater works. Grants allow creators and producers to refine works-in-progress by funding creative fees and other costs, including those for lab productions, workshops, readings, and revisions.

Grants were awarded to:

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Opera Montana

Project to Be Announced

Composer: Zach Redler

Co-Librettists: Matt Foss, Kelley Rourke

OPERA Montana looks forward to producing a new opera by composer Zach Redler and co-librettists Matt Foss and Kelley Rourke. The production will be announced in late January.  

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Other recipients include:

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American Lyric Theater (New York, NY)

Tevye’s Daughters (Alex Weiser, composer; Stephanie Fleischmann, librettist)

Austin Opera (Austin, TX)

Ofrenda (Jorge Sosa, composer; John de los Santos, librettist)

Chicago Fringe Opera (Chicago, IL)

Black Caesar: From Slave, to Pirate, to Legend (Khary Laurent, composer; Daryl Vincent Thomas and Khary Laurent, librettists)

HERE (New York, NY)

Chimera (working title) (Angélica Negrón, composer and librettist)

Minnesota Opera (Minneapolis, MN)The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (Kamala Sankaram, composer; Minita Gandhi, librettist)

Opera Saratoga (Saratoga Springs, NY)
DRIFT (Alyssa Weinberg, composer; J. Mae Barizo, librettist)

Pacific Opera Victoria (Victoria, BC, Canada)
Opera Sprouts Initiative, including three works:
Bossy Girl Saves the World (Mishelle Cuttler, composer; Scott Button, librettist)
Howl (Chris Thornborrow, composer; Sarah Henstra, librettist)
How the Tortoise Broke its Shell (Tawnie Olson, composer; Blessing Nwodo, librettist)

Grantees were selected by a panel of industry leaders consisting of Priti Gandhi, senior advisor, Arts Consulting Group; Anita Gonzalez, librettist; Dave Ragland, composer; Joseph N. Rubinstein, composer; and Sarah Williams, founder and creative producer, SarahProduces LLC.

Repertoire Development Grants are made possible through OPERA America’s Opera Fund, an endowment dedicated to supporting the creation and production of new work. OPERA America’s Opera Fund was launched by the National Endowment for the Arts, with support from the Helen F. Whitaker Fund, Lee Day Gillespie, Lloyd and Mary Ann Gerlach, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation.

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More information about OPERA America’s grant programs is available at operaamerica.org/Grants.

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