2014-2015 Production Competition Winners
The winners of the 2014‐2015 Opera Production Competition have been announced. Due to the vast range of resources available to producing organizations, the entrants are grouped into 6 categories, and a total of 18 awards have been given by the judges.
View an image gallery of the winners here.
OPC Committee: Anne Basinski, Dawn Harris, Mary Kay McGarvey, Richard Poppino, Christine Seitz, Jacque Trussel, Kenneth Wood (chair)
Division I Judges: Marc Callahan, Karen Esquivel, Christine Meadows
1st place – The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan
Produced by Melanie Day at Virginia Commonwealth University
Directed by Kenneth Wood
Conducted by Daniel Myssyk
2nd place – The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar
Produced by Chris Buess at UNC-Charlotte
Directed by Robin Witt
Conducted by Brian Arreola
3rd place (tie) – Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti
Produced by Albert Harrison at Taylor University
Directed by Conor Angell
Conducted by Patricia Robertson
3rd place (tie) – The Little Prince by Rachel Portman
Produced by UC-Santa Cruz
Directed by Brian Staufenbiel
Conducted by Nicole Paiement
Division II Judges: Susan Gonzalez, Mary Kay McGarvey, Steven Vasta
1st place – Twelfth Night by Joel Feigin
Produced by Ben Brecher at UC-Santa Barbara
Directed by David Grabarkewitz
Conducted by Brent Wilson
2nd place – The Tender Land by Aaron Copland
Produced by Lawrence University
Directed by Copeland Woodruff
Musical Direction by Bonnie Koestner
Conducted by Katherine Kilburn
3rd place – Speed Dating Tonight by Michael Ching
Produced by Texas State University
Directed by Sam Mungo
Conducted by Kristin Roach
Division III Judges: Anne Basinski, David Cody, Lukas Graf
1st Place – Triple Bill featuring winners of the Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera
Composition Prize including A Letter to East 11th Street by Martin Hennessy and Mark Campbell, Act I of The Fox and the Pomegranate by Matt Frey and Daniel Kushner, and Act II of In A Mirror, Darkly by Christopher Weiss and S. O'Duinn Magee
Produced by the Crane School of Music at SUNY-Potsdam
Directed by Carleen Graham
Conducted by Kirk Severtson
2nd Place – Strawberry Fields by Michael Torke
Produced by Oberlin Conservatory
Directed by Sally Stunkel
Musical Direction by Daniel Michalak
Conducted by John Paul Jennings
3rd Place – Albert Herring by Benjamin Britten
Produced by University of Wisconsin-Madison
Directed by David Ronis
Conducted by Kyle Knox
Division IV Judges: Jane Munson Berg, Marc Schapman, Christine Seitz
1st Place – Lakmé by Leo Delibes
Produced by Pamela Gilmore at Rutgers University
Directed by E. Loren Meeker
Conducted by Kynan Johns
2nd Place – Galileo Galilei by Phillip Glass
Produced by UNC-Greensboro
Directed by David Holley
Conducted by Kevin Geraldi
3rd Place (tie) – Mass by Leonard Bernstein
Produced by Edward Smaldone at Queens College-CUNY
Directed by Lorca Peress
Conducted by Maurice Peress
3rd Place (tie) – The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten
Produced by Edward Smaldone at Queens College-CUNY
Directed by Rod Gomez
Musical Direction by Elizabeth Hastings
Conducted by James John
Division V Judges: Derek Greten-Harrison, Jacque Trussel, Colin Whiteman
1st Place – Rappaccini’s Daughter by Daniel Catán
Produced by Moores Opera Center, University of Houston
Directed by Buck Ross
Musical Direction by Raymond Harvey
Conducted by Arne Almroth
2nd Place – Frau Margot by Thomas Pasatieri
Produced by Moores Opera Center, University of Houston
Directed by Buck Ross
Conducted by Raymond Harvey
3rd Place – Così fan tutte by WA Mozart
Produced by Michigan State University
Directed by Melanie Helton
Conducted by Marcello Cormio
Division VI Judges: Stephen Fiol, Dawn Harris, Ricardo Herrera
Winner – The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Produced by Julius Bright Ross for Lowell House Opera
Directed by Roxanna Myhrum
Conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya