The prestigious Olivier Awards were handed out on April 9 and while “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” dominated the awards, the opera community had something to celebrate.

Mark Wigglesworth, who conducted “Don Giovanni” and “Lulu” at London Coliseum, won the outstanding achievement in opera award beating out Stuart Skelton and Renée Fleming. 

Meanwhile, the New Opera Production was awarded to Phillip Glass’ “Akhnaten” at the London Coliseum. The production beat out the Royal Opera’s “Cosi Fan Tutte,” the London Coliseum’s “Lulu” and Lyric Hammersmith’s “4.48 Psychosis.”

The Olivier Awards are some of the most prestigious theater awards in the world as they have been a mark of theatrical greatness since they were inaugurated in 1976 as the Society of West End Theatre Awards. The Olivier Awards ceremony has had a nomadic existence, being presented both in theaters and ballrooms across London. The Awards were staged at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden from 2012 to 2016, before moving to the spectacular splendor of the Royal Albert Hall for the first time in 2017, their 41st year. The opera awards were added the second year of the organization’s existence.