OPERA America has announced the winners of the Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors.

In sum, the company will be providing $36,650 in grants with professional company members receiving up to $10,000 to subsidize as much as 50 percent of the fee of a woman stage director or conductor who is working for the company for the first time.

The winners of this year’s grants include:

• Cincinnati Opera – D. Lynn Meyers, stage director of “Fierce”
• The Glimmerglass Festival – Agwuna, stage director of “The Magic Flute”
• Houston Grand Opera – Lidiya Yankovskaya, conductor of “Carmen”
• Long Beach Opera – Jenny Wong, conductor of “Pierrot Lunaire” and “Voices from the Killing Jar”
• Michigan Opera Theatre – Kaneza Schaal, stage director of “Blue”
• New Camerata Opera – Kimille Howard, stage director of “Refractions”
• Opera Columbus – Tiffany Chang, conductor of “Tosca”
• Opera Steamboat – Maria Sensi Sellner, conductor of “The Barber of Seville”
• West Edge Opera – Indre Viskontas, stage director of “Katya Kabanova”

“It is my hope that these grants will not only encourage companies to consider the many talented women who can lead their productions, but also promote gender parity within an organization from the top down,” said Sue Marineau, president of the Marineau Family Foundation, in a press release. “When a company hires a woman director or conductor, that sends a powerful message to women aspiring to such roles and often leads to more equitable hiring practices among all artistic personnel.”