Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants provide support for the development of new operas by women composers, advancing the important objective to increase gender parity and diversity across the field.
Donor Name: Opera America
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/18/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Discovery Grants support women composers in their exploration of opera as an artistic medium, providing funding for activities such as libretto readings, workshops, and working performances.
OPERA America believes that different perspectives, cultural histories, life experiences, and personal stories enrich the operatic repertoire. OPERA America is dedicated to supporting creators who reflect the diversity of the nation.
Through the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, OPERA America offers two types of Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grants available to Professional Company Members; and Discovery Grants available to individual artists. Both programs provide support for the development of new operas by women composers, advancing the important objective to increase gender parity and diversity across the field.
Discovery Grants support the exploration of opera as an artistic medium by women composers through such activities as:
- A Libretto Reading: a reading in which the devised literature is read aloud for evaluation.
- A Workshop: an informal performance of some or all of a work to obtain feedback on specific elements of the piece. Workshops might be performed with piano and/or instrumental accompaniment.
- Working Performance: a partial or full run-through of a work, with piano or instrumental accompaniment, to obtain feedback for the further development of the piece. An audience may or may not be present.
Funding Information
Grants Up to $15,000.
Grant Period
April 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027.
Eligible expenses
- Vocalist, instrumentalist, and other performer fees;
- Music director/conductor;
- Dramaturg;
- Orchestrator, arranger, copyist;
- Stage director;
- Vocal coach;
- Sound designer;
- Rehearsal and workshop venue rental fees;
- Stage manager;
- Equipment rental (e.g., lighting, sound, instrumental cartage);
- Costs associated with project recording, including venue rental, recording personnel, and technical support for audio-visual needs;
- Costs incurred to create or prepare new musical materials, such as expanded or reduced orchestrations and copyist expenses for the creation of parts;
- Childcare and/or eldercare while creators are in rehearsal or workshop;
- Research materials (e.g., performance tickets, new work recordings, reference books);
- Living expenses for the composer of up the 30% of the grant request; and
- Transportation and housing for personnel related to creative meetings, rehearsals, and performances. (Airfare is limited to coach class.)
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be individual composers who identify as cis or trans women composers.
- Applicants must be United States citizens or permanent residents or possess Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.
- Applications submitted on behalf of a project with more than one composer, and/or that represent the efforts of a collective, are allowed. However, for the purposes of this grant program, the applicant will be considered the sole representative of the project and the sole recipient of any grant award.
- Applicants must demonstrate their ability to write music and/or text by providing work samples.
- This program is open to creators from all performing arts disciplines.
- An artist can be a member of only one applicant team with one project.
- Applicants whose work received a Commissioning Grant from OPERA America in any previous cycle are not eligible to apply for a Discovery Grant.
- Previous recipients of Discovery Grants are not eligible to apply again.
For more information, visit Opera America.
