OPERA America has announced the 2024 recipients of its Discovery Grants for Women Composers program.

This year’s winners include Jasmine Arielle Barnes for “She Who Dared,” Sivan Eldar for “Nine Jewelled Deer,” Whitney George for “NO MAN’S LAND,” Rebecca Gray for “BUS Opera,” Elizabeth Hoffman for “On Circe,” Sultana Isham for “Rogue Objects,” and Dina Maccabee for “Roses Are Blue.”

In sum, the program awards $100,000 to support the development of new opera and music theater works by these composers.

“Women composers are leaders in reshaping the art form and industry of opera,” said Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America, per the official website. “These seven talented grantees bring diverse and innovative perspectives. Achieving gender parity is crucial for the future of our field. We are grateful to the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation for their continued support in fostering this essential work.”

“She Who Dared” is an opera that celebrates seven of the Black women who fought to desegregate the Montgomery bus system.  “Nine Jewelled Deer” explores the story of a magical deer who saves a drowning man in a grotto. From there, the story branches out to take in numerous other experiences.  “NO MAN’s LAND” depicts a Faustian bargain between a young farm girl during the Great Depression in Oklahoma’s panhandle. “BUS Opera” is described as “an absurdist musical narrative that follows the mind of an alienated millennial as their hopes, anxieties, and gender identities collide on an overnight bus ride,” while “On Circe” is a retelling of the famed mythological figure. “Rogue Objects” is an ” immersive opera for planetaria that explores the emerging science of brown dwarfs: a lesser-known class of in-between celestial bodies, neither planets nor stars,” and “Roses Are Blue” is “the story of a child awakening to her unique identity as an individual.”