(Photo credit: Maria Baranova)

Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Hildegard” has been named the winner of the 2026 Award for Best New Opera, conferred by the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA).

The award, which recognizes both musical and theatrical excellence, is given annually to an operatic world premiere presented in North America the previous calendar year. The Award is determined by an Awards Committee of distinguished music critics.

“Hildegard” is a two-act chamber opera about Hildegard von Bingen, was commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and the Aspen Music Festival. The Los Angeles Opera and Prototype Festival presented the premiere with much acclaim. The New York Times named it a “Critic’s Pick,” lauding it as a “gorgeously mesmerizing” opera that “has both focus and a thematically expansive view of a moment in medieval history.

In response to winning the award, Sarah Kirkland Snider said in a press release, “I am deeply honored to receive the Music Critics Association of North America award for Best New Opera for Hildegard. This opera was many long years in the making and easily the most daunting artistic undertaking of my life. I cannot express how much it means to me to have it recognized in this way by critics whose work I have admired for decades. I share this honor with my incredible team of artistic midwives (Beth Morrison, Elkhanah Pulitzer, Annie Jin Wang, Deborah Johnson, Gabriel Crouch, and Peggy Monastra), everyone at LA Opera and G. Schirmer, and of course, the extraordinary cast, crew, and musicians who brought the work to life with such sensitivity, grit, grace, and power. My humble gratitude to you all.”

“Hildegard” will have a semi-staged performance at the Aspen Music Festival on July 31. Future performances are being planned in the United States and Europe, as is a studio recording.

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