We didn’t want to rush reflections of our 2023 because we want our values to reach beyond the usual data, like the number of productions or performances, or the largeness of our cast or audience So, here are the 2023 achievements we truly take pride in:

All the composers we presented in 2023 were women. We didn’t make it a theme or broadcast it to the world, we just did it!
We simultaneously released a studio album and corresponding short film, which was screened at the Mosesian center for the Arts and the colonial Performing Arts Center and was part of the “Art in Bloom” exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art (3 New England states).
Our work was seen in 4 states in total!
We collaborated with the Urban Jazz Dance Company’s Antoine Hunter and Zahna Simon, as well as Elbert Joseph, and a team of 5 ASL interpreters, for the first time and learned so much!
We engaged new audiences with new operas in 7 virtual events with the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library and the Haverhill Public Library.

Our highest-paid artists were women and people of color as well as our highest-paid contractors overall.
We increased funds for artist pay and travel by 156% from the previous year.
We continued to allocate funds to provide meals to artists during on-site work days that exceed 6 hours.
We increased the amount of paid part-time administrators, who are also active artists.
We have new board members who are enthusiastic about our work and ready to contribute so much.

When we say that your donation directly supports artists, it’s 100% true!

Looking forward to 2024, we are focusing on our production of Ululations and Gurgles of the Invisible by Elisabet Curbelo and continuing our collaboration with the Urban Jazz Dance Company with a goal to add 4 more dancers - 5 in total. We will need ASL interpreters at every rehearsal in addition to performances so that we can work with the best results. We purchased new motion sensor technology and are refining it for quick response time and designing projections that respond to it. Our goal is to make this an experience that fully immerses the audience in a mystical world.

Other works that are on the horizon in 2024 include a new production of The Windows by Elizabeth Gartman and Susan Bywaters, whose libretto was developed in our 2021 Libretto Writers Collective, and The Captivity of Hannah Duston by Lansing McLoskey and Glen Nelson, both based on true-life stories of local women. We are also preparing to record two studio albums: Her alive|un|dead by Emily Koh and Pedr Solis by Per Bloland.

In addition to our new board members, who are refreshed and enthusiastic about bringing new skills to our organizations, Aliana was accepted to participate in the 2024 Fundraising Certificate from Philanthropy Massachusetts. This builds on her knowledge from the 2022 Non-Profit Learning Institute, also from Philanthropy Massachusetts, and increases all our ability to better serve opera creators and the great variety of artists and technicians who are dedicated to their work.

We can’t thank our donors, supporters, collaborators, friends, and family enough for being a part of our incredible 17-year journey. Here’s to you and all you do to make this work of supporting artists possible and here’s to an amazing 2024!