OPERA America has announce the recipients for the 2020 Discovery Grants, which include over $100,000 for Female Composers.

This year’s recipients include 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 Jibara en Dos Actos;” Milica Paranosic for “Penelope and the Geese;” Kirsten Volness for “Letters That You Will Not Get: Women’s Voices from the Great War;” and Mary D. Watkins for “Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story.”

“OPERA America is focused on increasing gender parity across all sectors of the industry, both artistic and administrative, through initiatives like the Opera Grants for Female Composers, which have been enthusiastically received by the field as a whole,” said Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America, in a press statement. “Thanks to the generosity of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, these grants bring new voices, perspectives and stories influenced by a broad spectrum of personal, musical and cultural influences.”

The Grant recipients were selected from a pool of applicants that included 47 composers.