Fresh off stellar performances of The Pirates of Penzance, Miami University Opera has another success to celebrate. Their 2010 production of Massenet's Cinderella was recently awarded the second prize in the 2011 Opera Production Competition sponsored by the National Opera Association (NOA).
"It's fantastic to be recognized. For such a challenging production, there was a lot of effort put into it," Professor Mari Opatz-Muni, director of the opera program, said.
According to Opatz-Muni, the competition is completely blind; the judges have no clue which organization is performing or where they are from.
Major universities across the country enter DVD submissions that are then reviewed by a panel of judges. Miami won in the Category IV group, and will be recognized at the NOA National Convention this upcoming January. The categories for awards are based off of a number of different items including production budget, size of the program and other logistics. Other universities that entered include Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music, the University of North Texas, the University of Kansas and Temple University, among others.
"The fact we are competing against much larger schools and still coming out in second is simply fantastic," Opatz-Muni said.
Stefanie Wagner, the stage manager for the production and 2010 alumnae, echoed that sentiment: "[The award] is completely deserved. All of the hard work paid off," she said. "Miami University Opera is one of the best companies that I have worked with. They are an amazing team that is on top of what they do."
This isn't Miami's first award from the NOA. The 2008 production of Paul Bunyan was awarded second prize in the Category III group.
"The [opera] program is primarily comprised of undergraduate students, and to have this production at such a high level is phenomenal. We may be small, but we sure are mighty," Opatz-Muni said.
This award is another accolade to display during Miami's Year of the Arts.
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