Opera Saratoga one of four nationwide ‘new work’ grant awardees
The New Music USA award but one of many announcements by Saratoga’s opera company’s for its 65th anniversary season.
Opera Saratoga was one of only four nationwide awardees for the 2025 New Music Organization Fund in the Creation of New Work category under classical voice. The grant was awarded for the organization’s first-ever full-length commission for two female artists.
“New Music USA’s support means that Alyssa Weinberg and J Mae Barizo’s DRIFT will be a part of our 2026 festival season,” says Opera Saratoga’s General and Artistic Director Mary Birnbaum. “Their beautiful new opera is about memory, migration and motherhood.”
New Music USA provides grants to “outstanding organizations that work regularly with and support the development of music creators and artists, offering crucial resources to their community,” according to a September 2 article in OperaWire, which announced the classical voice winners.
The 2025 grants totaled $584,000 in awards, and spanned 17 states and Washington, D.C.; a monetary amount for the classical voice winners alone was not provided, but the awardees spanned five states.
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DRIFT is part of Opera Saratoga’s 65th anniversary celebration, which includes a special concert version of Puccini’s epic La Bohème — the company’s first-ever holiday production — at UPH on December 5. As part of the year-long celebration, there will also be added pop-ups and cocktails parties, including a September 11 happy hour at the new Standard Fare on Phila Street. The two-hour event will include heavy apps, decadent dessert bites, welcome bubbly (or non-alcoholic beverage), a cash bar — and 40 minutes of singing, all in a party setting.
Abby Tegnelia is on the board of Opera Saratoga but all opinions are her own.
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