The opera “Hildegard,” by American composer Sarah Kirkland Snider has received the 2026 Award for Best New Opera by the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA). Award Committee member Arthur Kaptainis presented the award to Snider on June 6 in Atlanta at MCANA’s annual meeting (hosted by the Atlanta Symphony and Atlanta Opera). She wrote both the music and the libretto.

The award honors musical and theatrical excellence in a fully staged opera that received its world premiere in North America during the preceding calendar year.

The opera, based on the life of the 12th-century German abbess Hildegard von Bingen, was partly developed in Cincinnati at an Opera Fusion: New Works workshop in 2024, the composer told me. She spoke to MCANA members about how, not knowing anything about the 12th-century abbess, she became captivated by Hildegard’s story after reading Oliver Sacks’ book, “Migraine,” where he posed the theory that Hildegard’s reported visions were caused by migraines. As a sufferer of migraines, it struck a chord with Snider, who began a deep dive into Hildegard’s life and her music.

Snider said it was “easily the most daunting artistic undertaking of my life,” and its composition and development took about 10 years. She is described as “one of new music’s leading names” (Gramophone), one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” (The Washington Post), and “a rising star on the American compositional scene” (The Wall Street Journal).

This year’s Awards Committee was co-chaired by Heidi Waleson (opera critic of The Wall Street Journal) and George Loomis (longtime contributor to the Financial Times and Musical America)—alongside committee members Arthur Kaptainis (contributor to Ludwig van Toronto and former music critic of the Montreal Gazette), John Rockwell (former critic and arts editor of The New York Times and a regular correspondent for Opera (UK) and Musical America), and Alex Ross (music critic of The New Yorker).

In praise of “Hildegard,” the committee wrote: “This compelling work of historical fiction explores the life and mind of the 12th century Benedictine abbess, visionary, and composer Hildegard von Bingen. Snider’s well-crafted libretto sets the action at a biographical turning point in 1147, when Hildegard’s transcribed visions were submitted to the pope, who would declare her to be either a prophet or a heretic.

“This complex heroine, who stands up to the power of the church and is disturbed by the nature of her feelings for a young novice, is captured in Snider’s distinctive, haunting music which reaches its apogee in the brilliantly explosive visions. Remarkable timbral variety belies the small size of the accompanying ensemble, and throughout, the opera’s musical radiance illuminates Hildegard’s visceral connection with the divine.”

The two-act chamber opera was commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and the Aspen Music Festival, and premiered by Los Angeles Opera and Prototype Festival in New York City, to rapturous reviews. “Hildegard” will have a semi-staged performance at the Aspen Music Festival this summer, at Harris Concert Hall on July 31. Future performances are being planned in the United States and Europe, as is a studio recording.

The Best New Opera Award reflects the overarching mission of MCANA to recognize distinctive achievements and, through its web publication Classical Voice North America, to communicate the richness of musical life in the U.S. and Canada at a time when classical music coverage in traditional print media is shrinking.

“Hildegard” is the ninth such award bestowed by MCANA, whose members submit the nominations.

Read Classical Voice North America‘s feature here.

Opera Fusion: New Works

A public performance of excerpts from “Hildegard” took place on Oct. 10, 2024 in Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio. That’s because Cincinnati has become one of the leaders of developing new opera in America. Opera Fusion: New Works is a collaboration of Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

For four cycles, the program was funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. When the grant ran out, a devoted Cincinnati patron stepped up to underwrite Opera Fusion: New Works, which is now funded by an anonymous donation, said Cincinnati Opera Artistic Director Evans Mirageas.

“We’re coming to the end of the first full year of a three-year cycle of Opera Fusion, funded by a single donor. We’re just incredibly grateful to that person,” Mirageas said.

“It’s unheard of in the history of philanthropy for a grant to be renewed four times,” he said, referring to the Mellon Foundation’s generosity. “What it did is it helped us build the repertoire of other companies. (Opera Fusion primarily workshops new opera for other companies.) But more importantly, locally, it built an audience, because we started getting sellout houses, as it were, for the presentations (of excerpts) at the end of workshops.”