THE SCOOP | Two Canadian Projects Take Home OPERA America 2024 Awards For Digital Excellence In Opera (2025)

OPERA America has announced the winners of the 2024 Awards for Digital Excellence in Opera, which celebrate recent projects by either individuals or organizations in Canada and the United States. Two Canadian projects have come home with the honours, including The Bicycle Project and their film Sweat, and Opera 5’s Threepenny Submarine web series.

“By crafting projects specifically for the screen, the winners of the 2024 awards explore the collaborative potential of opera and digital creation,” says Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America in a statement. “Their work demonstrates how blending disciplines can lead to bold innovations that captivate and inspire audiences in new ways.”

Four awards were given across three different categories, recognizing Artistic Creation, Education/Enrichment Materials, and Noteworthy Projects. The OPERA America initiative is supported by the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

And the winners are…

More than 30 organizations and individuals submitted applications for the award. The finalists were chosen from a short lists of 11 which included projects from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Dallas Opera, and other prominent organizations.

The jury of independent experts includes award winning composers David T. Little and Rebecca Gray, and 2022 Award for Digital Excellence in Opera winner Maria Sensi Sellner, among others.

Category: Artistic Creation

• Sweat, a film by The Bicycle Opera Project (Produced by Larissa Koniuk and Jennifer Nichols

Category: Education/Enrichment Materials

• A Pocket Magic Flute (Produced by Pocket Opera and the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre)

Category: Noteworthy Projects

• Everest: An Immersive Experience (Produced by Brian Staufenbiel and Nicole Paiement of San Francisco based Opera Parallèle)
• Threepenny Submarine Season 1 (Produced by Opera 5 and Gazelle Automations)

You can watch all the finalist projects along with the winners online [HERE]. Note that streaming is available through March 3, 2025, for all finalists, and through June 2, 2025, for the winners.

Toronto Winners

Two of the winners are Toronto-based indie opera companies.

Sweat: a film by The Bicycle Opera Project
Produced by Larissa Koniuk and Jennifer Nichols

Winner: Artistic Creation

Sweat premiered back in 2017 as a touring production of a 70-minute a cappella opera by Juliet Palmer and Anna Chatterton. It played 14 shows in nine cities, incorporating a residency at Ottawa Chamberfest. For the film adaptation, Bicycle’s Artistic Director Larissa Koniuk collaborated with director/choreographer Jennifer Nichols. With a miniscule budget, but an atmospheric locale, the film and the work effectively convey the harsh conditions of sweatshops around the world, both past and present. In a unique touch, the performers embody not only the workers, but the machines themselves. It was shot in historic industrial locations in Hamilton and Kingston, Ontario, and premiered at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival. It would go on to win Best Narrative Feature at the LA Independent Women Film Awards.

Threepenny Submarine Season 1
Produced by Opera 5 and Gazelle Automations

Winner: Noteworthy Projects

Threepenny Submarine is designed for kids and their families to enter into the world of opera. Opera 5 partnered with award-winning Gazelle Automations, a film production company that specializes in puppets, model miniatures, and animation. The web-based series combines puppets and animation in an original story about two junior officers in the Trifecta Fleet. Iona the cockatiel and Lydian the vixen take the Threepenny Submarine to explore the deep regions of the sea near a mysterious sector called Salieri. They meet up with sea creatures who make a sound like a flute, and the story takes flight. Learning about opera comes as part of the natural flow of the story and its engaging characters. Original music by Canadian composers Cecilia Livingston and Ryan Trew is featured in the final two episodes.

Congratulations to the innovative Canadian companies. Toronto’s indie opera scene is a vibrant and exciting one.

OPERA America was founded in 1970. Find out more about their programs here.

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