Applications are open for participation in The Atlanta Opera’s 96-Hour Opera Project for composers and librettists. Creatives are invited to apply to develop their skills and compete for a $10,000 cash prize and a $25,000 commission for a one-act chamber opera. Applications will be accepted now through February 11, 2025.
Now in its fourth season, the 96-Hour Opera Festival celebrates the artistry of creative talents and offers a path into the art of opera. Launched as the 96-Hour Opera Project, the Festival expanded from the original composition competition to include developmental workshops and incubator performances of works by past competition winners. The competition remains the heart of the Festival and invites composers and librettists to write ten-minute operas that are judged by industry leaders. Creatives are required to self-identify as representing an under-recognized community in the art of opera.
Those composers and librettists (either applying together or paired by the competition) selected to participate are expected to bring their completed works to Atlanta. The teams then have 96 hours to rehearse and develop their productions with assigned performers, music directors, and guidance from specialists in the field from June 17 through 21, 2025.
On Saturday, June 21, 2025, a public showcase will present the ten-minute operas at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College, and a winning team will be selected by a distinguished group of judges. The Atlanta Opera presents the Antinori Grand Prize to the winning team — a $10,000 award and a $25,000 Atlanta Opera commission for a new work to be produced and performed in an upcoming season. Participating creatives each receive a $1000 honorarium.
The 96-Hour Opera Festival also features presentations of the works in development by previous competition winners. The Festival will feature the premiere of Steele Roots by composer Dave Ragland and Selda Sahin, winners of the 2023 competition. Their chamber opera is based on the life and legacy of Carrie Steele Logan, a formerly enslaved woman who founded a home for orphaned children in Atlanta in the aftermath of the Civil War. Now known as the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home, this haven continues to serve the region’s most vulnerable children to this day. Tickets and a full schedule of public opportunities to view these world premieres will be released in March 2024. For further information about participating in the competition, contact competition@atlantaopera.org.
Who Should Apply?
Designed for composers and librettists from historically under-recognized communities, the 96-Hour Opera Competition is open to those who self-identify as part of a demographic that has been under-presented in the creative pantheon of opera.
The Atlanta Opera provides singing talent and a pianist as collaborators to bring the new works to life. Story partners based in Atlanta will assist The Atlanta Opera in providing a compelling story theme(s), which will be presented to the selected teams. The story prompts form the basis of the plot lines of the submitted works.
The 96-Hour Opera Festival is presented with the support of UPS, The Coca-Cola Foundation, The Antinori Foundation, The Rich Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Arts. The Atlanta Opera receives support from the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Special thanks to Slumgullion Charitable Fund for their support.
For media information and photos about past competitions and upcoming workshops in support of past winners, contact Michelle Winters, Director of Communications and PR.