In November, 2016, the Music Critics Association of North America announced the creation of the MCANA Award for Best New Opera, to be given annually beginning in the spring of 2017. The award will honor musical and theatrical excellence by the composer and librettist of an opera that received its world premiere in North America during the preceding calendar year.
The composer and librettist may be of any nationality. The premiere must have been fully staged. The winning composer and librettist will be profiled on Classical Voice North America, the web journal of the MCANA.
Nominations will be made by MCANA members only to the Award Committee, which will select finalists and a winner. Both the nominations and Awards Committee deliberations will be strictly confidential. The Awards Committee is co-chaired by Heidi Waleson, opera critic of The Wall Street Journal, and George Loomis, a longtime contributor to the Financial Times. The other committee members are Arthur Kaptainis, who writes for the Montreal Gazette and Musical Toronto, representing Canada; John Rockwell, former critic and arts editor of The New York Times; and Alex Ross, classical music critic of The New Yorker.
For further information, please contact info@mcana.org