New Music USA Announces Recipients of Thea Musgrave Performer-Composer Collaboration Grant 2026

New Music USA has announced the recipients of the second annual Thea Musgrave Performer-Composer Collaboration Grant, awarding $10,000 to composer Stephanie Ann Boyd, multidisciplinary artist and inventor Geoff Robertson, and violinist Audrey Wright for their collaborative project “PRISMBODY.” The grant is made possible through an endowed gift from composer Thea Musgrave and her husband, opera director Peter Mark. “PRISMBODY” will {…}

Sep 24, 2025

The Person Behind The Opera, Pt. 5: Baroness de Pontalba

For the past few months, you may have noticed the series, ‘The Person Behind The Opera.’ In May, we began the series by looking at the person, Malcolm Little (or Malcolm X), the focus of Anthony Davis’ 1985 opera, ‘X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.’ The next month, we looked at Harvey Milk, the San Francisco gay rights {…}

Jun 4, 2025

New Music USA Launches The Thea Musgrave Performer – Composer Collaboration Grant

(Credit: Kate Mount) New Music USA has launched the Thea Musgrave Performer-Composer Collaboration Grant. The gift of $250,000 by Musgrave and her husband Peter Mark will support composer-performer collaborations in perpetuity. Starting in 2025, one to two grants of $10,000 will be distributed through the New Music Creator Fund. The first awardees of the grant will be announced this June. {…}

Mar 13, 2021

Opera Quiz: Which Thea Musgrave Opera Is It?

Composer Thea Musgrave is one of the great trailblazers of the 20th century. In a time where most of the operatic repertory was created by men, she stood out with a wide-ranging operatic repertory that included her big hit “Mary, Queen of Scots.” In sum, she has written nearly a dozen operas throughout her career, many of them focusing on {…}

Jan 8, 2021

Composer Profile: Thea Musgrave, A True Trailblazer

(Credit: Bryan Sheffield) Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave has distinguished herself over the course of a long and prolific career. Many of her works have emerged as some of the most important operas of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Musgrave was born outside of Edinburgh in 1928 and later studied at the University of Edinburgh. As a burgeoning music {…}

Aug 28, 2020

Thea Musgrave & Tobias Picker Headline New CD/DVD Releases

This week audiences can stream works by three acclaimed contemporary composers. Here is a look at the new recordings. Opera Without Words Naxos will release a recording featuring one of Tobias Picker’s most performed symphonic works, “The Encantadas,” with narration by the composer, paired with Picker’s newest symphonic work, “Opera Without Words,” in its world-premiere recording. The recording features the Nashville {…}

Dec 11, 2018

London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire To Stage Thea Musgrave ‘A Christmas Carol’

London’s Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is set to stage a new production of Thea Musgrave’ “A Christmas Carol” as part of the company’s new season. “A Christmas Carol” will also be presented as part of Venus Blazing. The work closely follows Charles Dickens’ beloved novel and represents the second time the opera is presented in the U.K. {…}

Oct 24, 2018

Thea Musgrave’s ‘The Story of Harriet Tubman’ To Get NY Premiere

Utopia Opera will showcase the New York Premiere of Thea Musgrave’s “The Story of Harriet Tubman. Performances are set for Nov. 10, 11, 16, and 17 at the Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College. The production will be led by Utopia Opera’s artistic and music director Will Remmers with direction by Viktoria I.V. King. MaKayla McDonald stars in the title {…}

Jun 4, 2018

Q & A: Thea Musgrave On her Career Achievements & Her 90th Birthday

For years, British composer Thea Musgrave has been a major figure in the classical world. She has been a pioneer of the “dramatic-abstract” in the contemporary musical landscape and has composed over 160 pieces, including 13 operas, 11 choral works, and 21 orchestral works. Musgrave recently celebrated her 90th birthday with a concert that included many of her renown works {…}

May 21, 2018

Artist Of The Week: Thea Musgrave Celebrates Her 90th Birthday

Thea Musgrave is one of Britain’s most distinguished composers known for more than 160 pieces, including 13 operas, 11 choral works, and 21 orchestral works. Her work has been performed all over the world and she has garnered great respect in the classic musical world. And this week, she celebrates her prolific 70-year career with her 90th birthday. After a remarkable {…}

Jan 30, 2018

Composer Thea Musgrave To Celebrate Her 90th birthday In NYC

One of Britain’s most distinguished composers, Thea Musgrave celebrates her incredibly prolific seventy-year career with a 90th birthday concert on May 27 at The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, New York City. Known as a pioneer of the “dramatic-abstract” in the contemporary musical landscape, Musgrave has written more than 160 pieces, including 13 operas, 11 choral works, and 21 {…}