February 24, 2016. The Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam announced today the finalists for the 2018 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize. Four operas were named as finalists: ALBERT NOBBS by Patrick Soluri and Deborah Brevoort; MAYO by Tom Cipullo; THE REEF by Anthony Davis and Joan Ross Sorkin; and, UNCOVERED by Lori Laitman and Leah Lax.
The finalists will create a 20-minute excerpt of their proposed opera which will be workshopped at The Crane School of Music on September 24, 2016. One winner will be awarded a $25,000 commission to complete the work, which will premiere in November 2018 by the award-winning Crane Opera Ensemble & Orchestra.
The prize was founded by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay (’67) to honor his life partner Domenic J. Pellicciotti, an ardent fan of opera. The award seeks to encourage and acknowledge the creation of new opera works that explore themes related to tolerance, inclusion, or the celebration of diversity.
The selection panel for the 2018 Prize is Mark Campbell, award-winning opera librettist and winner (along with composer Martin Hennessey) of the 2014 Pellicciotti Prize for A Letter to East 11th Street; Dr. Carleen Graham, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and Director of the Crane Opera Ensemble; Nicole Paiement, Conductor, Founder and Artistic Director of Opera Parallèle and Principal Guest Conductor of The Dallas Opera; Dr. Kirk Severtson, Professor and Music Director of The Crane Opera Ensemble; Dr. Timothy Sullivan, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theory/History/Composition; Darren Keith Woods, General Director of Fort Worth Opera.
Noted American dramaturg Cori Ellison will work with the composers and librettists chosen as finalists and with the 2018 prize winners in developing their opera projects.
