Performing Arts

The performing arts can be powerful force for good in our society. 

Virginia B. Toulmin knew from a young age the importance of music and art. The performing arts can be a powerful force for good in our society — promoting creativity, collaboration, and a deep connection across differences. There has been a long history of discrimination and exclusion of female creators in music, theater and ballet. We support organizations that prepare girls and women for careers as composers, playwrights and choreographers and that commission and perform their work.

We invest in organizations like Opera America and the League of America Orchestras, that give equal opportunities to female composers.

Theater Awards

Theater Grants - 2013

  • Arena Stage, Washington, DC - Karen Zacarias, music by Debbie Wicks la Puma - The Destiny of Desire – premier Sept 2015

  • Atlantic Theatre, New York, NY - Rachel Bonds

  • Culture Project, New York, NY - Staceyann Chin – MotherStruck – premier Dec 2015

  • Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL - Lauren Yee – King of the Yees

  • Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN - Carson Kreitzev

  • NY Theater Workshop, New York, NY - Sibyl Kempson – Kyckling and Screaming

  • Playwrights Horizons, New York, NY - Danai Gurira

Theater Grants - 2016

  • American Conservatory Theater – Mfoniso Udofia

  • Arena Stage – Mary Kathryn Nagle

  • Culture Project – Sarah Shourd

  • HERE Arts Center – Zoey Martinson

  • Rattlestick Playwrights Theater – Cori Thomas

  • Signature Theater – Dominique Morisseau

  • The New Group – Amina Henry

  • Yale Repertory Theatre – Susan Soon He Stanton

Theater Grants - 2019

  • Atlantic Theater, New York, NY –  Sanaz Toossi

  • New York Theater Workshop, New York, NY –  Mfoniso Udofia

  • Primary Stages, New York, NY –  Sarah Mantell

  • Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York, NY –  Stacey Rose

  • The Public Theater, New York, NY –  Erika Dickerson-Despenza

  • The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, PA –  Mary Tuomanen

  • Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago, IL – Masi Asare

Theater Joint Commissions - 2024

  • Signature Theater – La Jolla Playhouse- Melis Aker

  • Public Theater – Center Theater Group – Seayoung Yim

  • New York Theater Workshop – Geffen Playhouse – N’yomi Stewart

  • Playwrights Horizons – Woolly Mammoth – Sheila Callaghan

Grants have also been made to the following:

  • Lincoln Center Festival - Mark O’Rowe, Irish Shakespeare 

  • Lincoln Center Theatre - 

    Miranda Rose Hall – Plot Points in our Sexual Development

    Jackie Sibblies Drury – Marys Seacole

    Grace McLean – In the Green

    Sylvia Khoury - Power Strip

    Bryna Turner -At the Wedding

  • Waterman’s Community Center 

    Tom Emerson, The House of Broken Ships

    Susan Minot – On Island

  • NY Society Library – 

    Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Cecilia and the Universe - 2015

    Julia Izumi – Meet Murasaki Shikibu -2016 – subsequent performance at NY Fringe Festival

    Allison Taaffe – Three – 2016 – subsequent performance at Dixon Place

    Phoebe Kreutz – YOLO Gilgamesh – 2016 – subsequent run at FRIGID New York Theater Festival

    Sarah Blush – Sehnsucht – 2017 – subsequent run at Jack’s Theater

    Jody Christensen – AMP – 2017 – subsequent run at Workshop West Playwrights’s Theater

    Sarah Taylor Ellis - Trojan Women – 2018

    Jenny Lyn Bader, Mona Lisa Speaks – 2018 = subsequent run at West End Theater Club

    Sarah Rose Kearns - Jane Austen’s Persuasion – 2018 – subsequent run at Bedlam Theater

    Climate Change Theater -Chantal Bilodeau - Homo Sapiens – 2019

    Laura Rocklyn – Jane Austen - 2020

    Ty Hallmark and Laura Rocklyn – Clover- 2021

  • The KIlroys

  • Wellesley Centers for Women— for a study of Women in Theater

  • Asolo Theater

Symphonic Awards

Earshot Awards - 2014

  • Julia Adolphe – NY Philharmonic – viola concerto Unearth, Release

  • Melody Eotvos – American Composer’s Orchestra – Red Dirt/Silver Rain

Orchestral Awards- 2016

  • LA Phil - Thuridur Jonsdottir

  • Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Amy Beth Kirsten

  • American Composers Orchestra –   Reena Esmail

                                                                        Alex Temple

                                                                        Zoshi Di Castri

Orchestral Awards - 2018

  • LA Phil – Natacha Diels

  • Detroit Symphony – Nkeiru Okoye

  • Baltimore Symphony – TJ Cole

  • Seattle Symphony – Angelique Poteat

  • NY Phil – Ashley Fure - Filament

  • American Composers Orchestra

                 Paola Prestini – The Hotel that Time Forgot

                 Valerie Coleman – Phenomenal Women

                 Alex Temple – Three Principles of Noir

                 Du Yun – Where We Lost our Shadows

League Consortium Commissions 2022 -23

  • Anna Clyne – Philadelphia Orchestra

  • Sarah Gibson – Sarasota Orchestra

  • Angel Lam – Kansas City Symphony

  • Gity Razaz – San Diego Symphony

  • Arlene Sierra – Detroit Symphony

  • Wang Lu – New York Philharmonic

National Sawdust -NYU Center for Ballet Fellowships 2022-23

  • Erica “Twelve 45” Blunt,  Wang Lu, Tiler Peck, Ausia Jones

  • NYU-National Sawdust Joint Toulmin Fellowship 2022-

    Val Jeanty

                  Emily Wells

                  Adji Cissoko

                  Jihye Lee

                  Tiffany Rae-Fisher

  • 2023 - 24

                  Lu Wang

                  Ausia Jones

                  Erica Blunt / Twelve 45

                  Tiler Peck

Grants have also been made to the following:

  • Symphony Space - Eisa Davis - The Flowers Are Sleeping 

  • Brooklyn Academy of Music – for support so female composed or choreographed works

  • National Sawdust – Hildegard Competition - for female composers

  • National Sawdust -NYU Center for Ballet Fellowships 2022-3

             Erica “Twelve 45” Blunt,  Wang Lu, Tiler Peck, Ausia Jones

  • NYU-National Sawdust Joint Toulmin Fellowship

           2022- Val Jeanty

                  Emily Wells

                  Adji Cissoko

                  Jihye Lee

                  Tiffany Rae-Fisher

    2023-4- Lu Wang

         Ausia Jones

         Erica Blunt / Twelve 45

          Tiler Peck

  • Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – 

    Alexandra DuBois

    Zosha di Castri

  • Juilliard - Mentoring Female Composers Program to encourage female composer enrollment

  • Luna Lab - Mentoring teenage girl composers

  • League of American Orchestras — Female Conductors Program

  • Brooklyn Youth Chorus

  • Young people’s Chorus

  • Orpheus Chamber Ensemble

  • Taki Conducting Fellowship

  • American Composer Orchestra – diversity initiatives

  • Composers Now – commissions for young composers from Luna Lab 

  • Dallas Symphony – Women in Music Symposium 

  • New Music USA 2022 – Consortium Commissioning Grants

    Katherine Balch – NY Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony

             Clarice Assad – St Paul Chamber Orchestra

  • New York Philharmonic -Project 19 – female composer commissions

  • Sarasota Orchestra

  • American Composer’s Forum - for Anatomy of a Commission

Ballet Awards

New York City Ballet

  • Justin Peck - Paz de la Jolla - 2014

  • Justin Peck – Rodeo - 2015

  • Lauren Lovett – For Clara - 2016

  • Annabel Lopez Ochoa – Unframed – 2016

  • Laurel Lovett – Not Our Fate - 2017

  • Gianna Reisen – Composer’s Holiday – 2017

  • Gianna Reisen – Judah - 2018

  • Emma Portner – 2018 (postponed)

  • Pam Tanowitz - Bartok Ballet - 2019

  • Lauren Lovett - The Shaded Line – 2019

  • Sidra Bell – 2021 – Suspended Animation

  • Andrea Miller 2021 – Sky to Hold

  • Gianna Reisen – 2022 – Play Time

  • Keerati Jinakunwiphat – 2023 – Fortuitous Ash

  • Alysa Pires – 2023 - TBA

Pacific Northwest Ballet — 2015-2017

  • Jessica Lang – Her Door to the Sky

Vail Dance Festival —2016

  • Claudia Schreier – Solitaire

Vail Dance Festival —2019

  • Lauren Lovett

  • Hope Boykin

  • Pam Tanowitz

  • Michelle Dorrance

  • Tiler Peck

Joyce Theater Ballet Festival —2017

  • Claudia Scrieier

  • Emery LeCrone

  • Gemma Bond

  • Amy Seiwert

Bard College —2018

  • Pam Tanowitz – Four Quartets

Dance USA - Grants to female choreographers —2019

  • Julie Niekrasz and Crystal Michelle Perkins | Ballet Memphis

  • Chelsea Dumas | Charlotte Ballet

  • Heather Britt, Sarah Van Patten, Melissa Gelfin and Andrea Schermaly | Cincinnati Ballet

  • Penny Saunders and Dani Rowe | Grand Rapids Ballet

  • Melissa Gelfin, Emily Mistretto, Courtney Nitting and Melody Walsh | Kansas City Ballet

  • Jennifer Archibald and Erin Kouwe| Nashville Ballet

NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts - Toulmin Fellows

  • Melissa Barak (Spring 2016) 

  • Claudia Schreier (Spring 2017)

  • Danielle Agami (Spring 2018) 

  • Bridget Kibbey (Fall 2018) 

  • Lauren Lovette (Fall 2018) 

  • Jessie Montgomery (Fall 2018) 

  • Netta Yerushalmy (Fall 2018) 

  • Emily Kikta (Fall 2019)

  • Preeti Vasudevan (Fall 2019) 

  • Kimberly Bartosik (Spring 2020)

  • Milena Sidorova (Spring 2020)

  • Amy Hall Garner – 2021

  • Molly Joyce – 2021

  • Marisa Michelson – 2021

  • Briana Mims – 2021

  • Miriam parker - 2021

Grants have also been made to:

  • New York City Centre for Fall for Dance Commissions by female choreographers 

  • Brooklyn Academy of Music for female choreographed works

  • Dance USA - for Music and the Choreographer Program

  • School of American Ballet for female choreography program

  • Boston Ballet School for female choreography program

  • Pacific Northwest Ballet School for female choreography program

  • Co-Lab Dance

  • Barak Ballet

  • Los Angeles Ballet

  • Ballet X

  • Ashley Bouder Project

  • Sarasota Ballet for a Three-year Choreographer in Residence Program for Jessica Lang

  • Ballet X for a Three-Year Choreographer in Residence Program for Amy Hall Garner

Opera Grants

Discovery Grants — 2014 

  • Anna Clyne - As Sudden Shut – performance at Chicago Symphony 2013

  • Michelle DiBucci - Charlotte Salomon –Der Tod Und Die Malerin - premiered at  Ballett Im Revier, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Feb 2015

  • Laura Kaminsky - As One – premiered at BAM September 2014. Many subsequent productions 

  • Kristen Kuster - Old Presque Isle – premiere scheduled 2017

  • Anne Le Baron - Psyche and Delia, now called LSD: The Opera – excerpts performed in 2016 in LA at RedCat

  • Fang Man - Golden Lily – concert performance in 2016

  • Sheila Silver - A Thousand Splendid Suns – concert performance in 2016 in Key West and in NYC

  • Luna Pearl Woolf - The Pillar –   at Opera America 2014

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2016 

  • American Opera Projects -- Victoria Bond – Gulliver’s Travels

  • Ardea Arts-Family Opera Initiative – Kitty Brazelton – Animal Tales – to premier March 2017

  • Beth Morrison Projects - Sarah Kirkland Snider – The Living Light

  • Glimmerglass Festival – Jeanine Tesori – Blue

  • Houston Grand Opera – Laura Kaminsky – Some Light Emerges

  • Opera Columbus- Korine Fujiwara – The Flood of 1913 – to premier 2017

  • Opera Colorado – Lori Laitman – The Scarlet Letter – premier 2016

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2017 

  • Faye Chiao – Island of the Moon

  • Ellen Fishman – Marie Begins

  • Grace Oberhofer – ICONS/IDOLS

  • Tawnie Olson – Sanctuary and the Storm

  • Frances Pollock – Stinney: An American Execution

  • Kate Soper – The Romance of the Rose

  • Dalit Warshaw – Delusion of Grandeur

  • Cynthia Lee Wong – No Guarantees

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2019 

  • Sarah Ellis - The Trojan Women

  • Donia Jarrar - Seamstress

  • Gina Leishman - Birth of the Inner Eye

  • Carla Lucero - Juana

  • Kristin Norderval - The Sailmaker’s Wife

  • Niloufar Nurbakhsh - We the Innumerable

  • Celka Ojakangas - Mirror Game

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2020 

  • The American Opera Project (Brooklyn, NY) for Precipice by Rima Fand

  • Beth Morrison Projects (Brooklyn, NY) for In Our Daughter’s Eyes by Du Yun

  • Boston Lyric Opera (Boston, MA) for The Desert Inn (working title) by Ellen Reid

  • Guerilla Opera (Haverhill, MA) for HER:alive/un/dead: a media opera by Emily Koh

  • HERE (New York, NY) for A Practical Breviary: Terce by Heather Christian

  • Houston Grand Opera (Houston, TX) for Turn and Burn, A Rodeo Opera by Nell Shaw Cohen

  • Opera on Tap (Brooklyn, NY) for Joan of the City by Kamala Sankaram

  • Opera Orlando (Orlando, FL) for The Secret River by Stella C. Y. Sung

  • Opera Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) for The Listeners by Missy Mazzoli

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2022 

  • American Opera Project – Stephanie Chou for Jade Star Hotel

  • Beth Morrison Projects – Paola Prestini for Old Man and the Sea

  • Finger Lakes Opera for B.E. Boykin for Two Corners

  • Long Beach Opera for Shelley Washington for Death, both of us dead

  • Opera Birmingham for Carla Lucero for Touch

  • Opera San José for Rene Orth for TBA

  • Spoleto Festival for Layale Chaker for Ruinous Gods

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2024

  • Dina Maccabee – Roses are Blue

  • Elizabeth Hoffmann – On Circe

  • Jasmine Barnes – She Who Dared

  • Sultana Isham – Rogue Objects

  • Whitney George – No Man’s Land

  • Rebecca Gray – Bus Opera

  • Sivan Eldar – Nine Jeweled Deer

Opera grants have also been made to the following:

  • Beth Morrison Projects - for commissioning and development of female composed operas

  • On Site Opera

  • Opera on Tap

  • Opera Saratoga 

  • Sarasota Opera

  • Center for Contemporary Opera

  • New York City Opera

  • American Opera Projects - for support of female composed operas

  • University of Central Arkansas

  • Prototype Festival - for production of female composed operas

  • Juilliard Vocal Arts Program

  • MATA

  • Sarasota Opera

Theater Grants - 2014

  • Dallas Theater Center, Dallas, TX - Karen Rosenstock

  • Primary Stages, New York, NY - Janine Nabers

  • Second Stage, New York, NY - Erica Lipez

  • Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago, IL - Marisa Wegrzyn

  • Colt Coeur, Brooklyn, NY - Amelia Roper

  • Signature Theater, New York, NY - Naomi Wallace – Night is a Room – premier Nov 2015

  • Long Wharf Theater, New Haven, CT - Kimber Lee – to the yellow house –workshop in Sept 2016

  • Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT - Bess Wohl

Theater Grants - 2017

  • American Repertory Theater – Jane Mendelsohn

  • Ars Nova – Antionette Nwandu

  • Atlantic Theater Co – Carla Ching

  • Clubbed Thumb – Sigrid Gilmer

  • Elevator Repair Service – Kate Scelsa

  • Manhattan Theater Club – Olivia Dufault

  • O’Neill Theater Center -

  • Public Theater – Patricia Ione Lloyd

  • Roundabout Theater Company – Lindsey Ferrentino

Theater Grants - 2021

  • American Conservatory Theater

  • HERE Arts Center

  • Playwright Horizons

  • Rattlestick Theater

  • Second Stage

  • Signature Theater

  • Soho Rep

  • Public Theater

Earshot Awards - 2015

  • Andreia Pinto-Correia – Columbus Symphony - Cipres

  • Xi Wang – Berkeley Symphony - Lotus Prayer

Earshot Awards - 2017

  • Stacy Garrop - St. Louis Symphony

  • Robin Holcomb - Portland Symphony Orchestra - No Thing Lives to Itself

  • Andrea Reinkemeyer - Louisiana Philharmonic - Water Sings Fire

Orchestral Awards - 2019

  •  NY Phil - Project 19

  • Dallas Symphony - Angelica Negron

  • Philadelphia Orchestra - Xi Wang

League Consortium Commissions 2024 -25

  • Brittany J. Green and Jacksonville Symphony

  • Moni (Jasmine) Guo and Dallas Symphony Orchestra

  • Karena Ingram and Memphis Symphony Orchestra

  • Chelsea Komschlies and Tucson Symphony Orchestra

  • Marina López and Grand Rapids Symphony

  • Meilina Tsui and Artis Naples—Naples Philharmonic

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center -

  • Alexandra DuBois

  • Zosha di Castri

American Ballet Theater - 2016 — 2019

  • Dana Genshaft - Chromatic Fantasy

  • Lauren Lovett - Le June

  • Pam Tanowitz - Untitled

  • Jessica Lang - The Gift

  • Jessica Lang - Her Notes

  • Michelle Dorrance - Praedicere

  • Claudia Schreier

  • Stefanie Batten Bland

  • Gemma Bond

  • Zhong-Jing Fang

  • Amy Garner Hall

Boston Ballet — 2016

  • Jill Johnson

Vail Dance Festival —2017

  • Claudia Schreir

  • Michelle Dorrance

  • Lauren Lovett

  • Pam Tanowitz

Vail Dance Festival —2021

  • Lauren Lovett

  • Tiler Peck

  • Michelle Dorrance

Joyce Theater Ballet Festival —2018

  • Barak Ballet

  • Ashley Bouder

  • Ballet X

  • Dimensions Dance Theater of Miami

Joyce Theater Ballet Festival —2019

  • Charlotte Edmunds

  • Gemma Bond

  • Stina Quagebeur

  • Laila Diallo

Dance USA - Grants to BIPOC female choreographers – 2022

  • Sidra Bell at Nashville Ballet, 

  • Sidra Bell at Nevada Ballet Theatre, 

  • Natrea Blake at Orlando Ballet, 

  • Rena Butler at Oklahoma City Ballet,

  • Stephanie Martinez and Caili Quan at Sacramento Ballet.

NYU-National Sawdust Joint Toulmin Fellowship

2022 -

  • Val Jeanty

  • Emily Wells

  • Adji Cissoko

  • Jihye Lee

  • Tiffany Rae-Fisher

2023 - 24

  • Lu Wang

  • Ausia Jones

  • Erica Blunt / Twelve 45

  • Tiler Peck

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2015 

  • American Opera Projects - Wang Jie - To Kill That Bird now called R is for Rat – workshop Oct 2016

  • Arizona Opera - Gabriela Lena Frank - The Last Dream of Frida and Diego

  • Beth Morrison Projects - Ellen Reid - Winter’s Child – performed at Prototype 2015

  • Glimmerglass Opera - Laura Karpman - Wilde Tales – performed Aug 2016

  • Opera Philadelphia - Missy Mazzoli - Breaking the Waves – premiered at Opera Philadelphia --Sept 22, 2016

  • The Industry - Ellen Reid – Hopscotch – performed Los Angeles - Nov 2015

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2016 

  • Julia Adolphe -- So Donia Speaks

  • Emily Doolittle -- Jan Tait and the Bear

  • Mary Ellen Childs -- On Beyond

  • Nkeiru Okoye -- We've Got Our Eye On You

  • Rene Orth – Machine

  • Elena Ruehr -- Crafting the Bonds

  • Laura Schwendiner – Artemisia

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2018 

  • FaLisa DeSpain - That Hell-Bound Train

  • Alexa Dexa - Be a Doll

  • Germaine Franco - ¡La Capitana!

  • Elizabeth Kelly - Losing Her Voice

  • Leanna Kirchoff - Friday After Friday

  • Veronika Krausas - Ghost Opera

  • Julia Meinwald - REB+VoDKa+ME

  • Liza Seigido - Cyborgs Are Dancing

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2019 

  • The Industry (Los Angeles, CA) for Sweet Land by Du Yun

  • Lyric Opera of Chicago (Chicago, IL) for an untitled opera by Caroline Shaw

  • Mill City Summer Opera (Minneapolis, MN) for Stone Arch: A Walking Opera by Mary Ellen Childs

  • Opera Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) for Ten Days in a Madhouse by Rene Orth

  • Opera Steamboat (Steamboat Springs, CO) for Cookie by Leanna Kirchoff

  • Spoleto Festival USA (Charleston, SC) for an opera on the life of Omar Ibn Said (title Omar) by Rhiannon Giddens

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2021 

  • Gelsey Bell for mɔːnɪŋ

  • Christina Campanella for The Visitation

  • Asako Hirabayashi for Hebi-onna (Snake Woman)

  • Angel Lam for Lost Shanghai

  • Shuying Li for When the Purple Mountains Burn

  • Nicole Paris and Katherine Skovira for ?this is my Body

  • Bora Yoon for ‘아가씨’ Handmaiden [Mademoiselle]

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2023 

  • Juhi Bansal, for Star Singer

  • Annie Gosfield, for Peggy and Jackson

  • Jennifer Jolley, for Spacewalk

  • Dana Kaufman, for Sally Ride

  • Tamar Muskal, for Nadia

  • Shara Nova, for The Subnivean Zone: Under the Snow

  • Bernadette Speach, for The Little Rock Nine

  • Jennifer Williams, for Dis/Inform

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2024

  • American Lyric Theater – She Who Dared – Jasmine Barnes

  • On Site Opera – Lucidity – Laura Kaminsky

  • Opera on Tap – The Singing Cabinets – Kamala Sankaram

  • Opera Saratoga – Drift – Alyssa Weinberg

  • Spoleto Festival USA – Denmark Vesey – Paola Prestini

Theater Grants - 2015

  • Ensemble --Clare Barron –

  • HERE — Amanda Szeglowski –

  • McCarter — Jiehae Park –

  • Soho Rep  —Jackie Sibblies Drury – Fairview

  • Wilma — Kate Tarker

  • Ma-Yi —Hansol Jung

  • Asolo -- Sarah Gancher

  • Victory Gardens -- Boo Killebrew –

Theater Grants - 2018

  • Colt Coeur - Lily Padilla (she cancelled)- then Fran Da Silveira

  • Goodman - Sandra Delgado

  • Playwrights Horizon - Aleshea Harris

  • Seattle Rep - Ruby Rae Spiegel

  • Soho Rep -  Jillian Walker

  • Signature - Katori Hall

Theater Grants - 2022

  • Atlantic Theater

  • HERE Arts Center

  • Manhattan Theater Club

  • NY Theater Workshop

  • Playwright Horizons

  • Signature Theater

  • Soho Rep

  • Public Theater

Earshot Awards - 2016

  • Chen-Hui Jen - Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra – in eternal dusk

  • Hannah Lash - Naples Philharmonic – Double Concerto

  • Wang Jie - Buffalo Philharmonic -

Earshot Awards - 2018

  • Courtney Bryan - Louisiana Philharmonic - Rejoice

  • Cindy Cox - Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

  • Fang Man - San Francisco Symphony

Earshot Awards - 2020

  •  Niloufar Iravani – South Dakota Symphomy

  • Leanna Primani – ROCO, Houston

  • Hilary Purrington – Atlanta Symphony

National Sawdust

  • Hildegard Competition - two residencies for emerging female composers – 2023 – Andrea Guterres, Hannah Ishizaki, Yaz Lancaster, Kelley Sheehan, DM R

New Music USA 2022 – Consortium Commissioning Grants

  • Katherine Balch – NY Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony

  • Clarice Assad – St Paul Chamber Orchestra

American Ballet Theater - Incubator — 2019

  • Claire Davison

  • Zhong-Jing Fang

  • Gabrielle Lamb

  • Laura O’Malley

Atlanta Ballet— 2016

  • Gemma Bond - Denouement

Vail Dance Festival —2018

  • Lauren Lovett

  • Claudia Schreier

  • Tiler Peck

  • Michelle Dorrance

Dance Theater of Harlem —2017

  • Claudia Schreier, Amy Seiwert

  • Jessica Lang – Stabat Mater

Misc Grants —2018

  • Atlanta Ballet – Claudia Schreier

  • Ballet West – Africa Guzman

  • Boston Ballet - various

  • PNB – Robyn Mineka Williams

Misc Grants —2019

  • Boston Ballet - Lauren Flower

  • Pacific Northwest Ballet - Eva Stone

  • Ballet West - Jennifer Archibald

Female Choreography Commission -Sarasota Ballet 2022

  • Jessica Lang

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2015 

  • Su Lian Tan – Lotus Lives – performed 2016 Tufts University

  • Laura Karpman – Balls – to be performed 2017 in LA

  • Odaline de la Martinez – Imoinda – recording made

  • Kamala Sankaram – The Privacy Show – workshop done 2016 maureen

  • Kitty Brazelton – The Art of Memory – workshop in 2016

  • Patricia Leonard - My Dearest Friend – premier 2016 in Massachusetts

  • Jing Jing Luo – Ashima – workshop at AOP Nov 2016

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2017 

  • Cincinnati Opera – Nkeiru Okoye - Blind Injustice

  • Minnesota Opera – Paola Prestini – The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

  • Opera Parallele – Laura Kaminsky – Today it Rains

  • Sarasota Opera – Rachel Peters – Rootabega Country

  • Seattle Opera – Sheila Silver – A Thousand Splendid Suns

  • Washington National Opera – Missy Mazzoli – Proving Up

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2018 

  • Beth Morrison Projects (New York, NY) - Adoration by Mary Kouyoumdjian

  • On Site Opera (New York, NY) - Lady Murasaki and the Tale of Genji (working title) by

  • Michi Wiancko

  • Opera on Tap (New York, NY) - Looking at You by Kamala Sankaram

  • Opera Philadelphia - Ashes (working title) by Jennifer Higdon

  • Washington National Opera - Taking Up Serpents by Kamala Sankaram

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2020 

  • Lisa Bielawa for Centuries in the Hours 

  • Justine F. Chen for Seven Sisters 

  • Melissa Dunphy for Alice Tierney 

  • Johanny Navarro for ¿Y los Pasteles? Ópera Jíbara en Dos Actos (Where Are the Pasteles? Jibaro Opera in Two Acts) 

  • Milica Paranosic for Penelope and the Geese 

  • Kirsten Volness for Letters That You Will Not Get: Women's Voices from the Great War

  • Mary D. Watkins for Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story

Opera America Discovery Grants — 2022 

  • Layale Chaker- for Ruinous Gods

  • Ashi Day for Waking the Witch

  • Susan Kander for Carry my Own Suitcase

  • Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti for Lili’u

  • Pamela Madsen for Why Women Went West: Eleven Eleisons from East to West

  • Rachel J. Peters for Nothing Except my Genius

  • Amber Vistein for Dark Exhalation

  • Alyssa Weinberg for Drift

Opera America Commissioning Grants — 2023 

  • Beth Morrison Projects (Brooklyn, NY) for Sensorium Ex, composed by Paola Prestini (libretto by Brenda Shaughnessy)

  • Houston Grand Opera (Houston, TX) for The Big Swim, composed by Meilina Tsui (libretto by Melisa Tien)

  • LA Opera (Los Angeles, CA) for The Tower of Babel, composed and written by Carla Lucero

  • Pittsburgh Opera (Pittsburgh, PA) for Time to Act (working title), composed by Laura Kaminsky (libretto by Crystal Manich)

  • White Snake Projects (Brookline, MA) forSplitting Sand, composed by Jing Jing Luo (libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs); andIs This America? The Story of Fannie Lou Hamer, composed by Mary Watkins (libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs)

Spoleto Festival — 2020

  • Spoleto Festival — Regina Giddens – Omar Ibn Said