2023 Awards for Digital Excellence 

“The Awards for Digital Excellence in Opera recognize the best operatic work created for digital platforms by individual producers and organizations in the U.S. and Canada, in four categories: Artistic Creation, Education/Enrichment Material, University/Conservatory Projects, and Noteworthy Projects…”

SVABDA

Produced by Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Bradley Vernatter, Jessica Johnson Brock, David B. Devan, Anderson Nunnelley, and Hannah Shepard, Svabda was selected as a winner in the category of Artistic Creation in the 2023 Awards for Digital Excellence.

“Featuring an all-female cast and creative team, Svadba, by Ana Sokolović, is an a cappella chamber opera that explores themes of transition, telling the story of a young bride preparing for her new life as a married woman. The work dramatizes the traditions, rituals, and celebrations of the young woman and her gathering of close friends. This cinematized production reengages with the work in a multidisciplinary interpretation, telling a visual story through dance and eye-catching cinematography, enhanced by the contemporary tour-de-force score that combines operatic and Balkan folk vocal techniques to create a vivid, onomatopoeic sound world. Director Shura Baryshnikov stays true to the original Serbian folklore and language, enhanced by conductor Daniella Candillari’s Serbian background, while exploring the work through a larger lens — reflecting the variety of personal identities among the diverse all-female cast and creative team to tell a story that explores a deeply rooted feminine perspective.”

www.operaamerica.org, 2023 Awards for Digital Excellence

www.operaamerica.org, SVADBA by Ana Sokolović

www.operaamerica.org, JESS by Rebecca Gray