by Chloe Woodward
On October 2, Christina Scheppelmann was awarded the Leadership in Opera Award at the 2024 International Opera Awards in Munich, Germany. With over three decades of leadership experience, this award recognizes Scheppelmann’s many career achievements across three continents. Her award recognizes that “Christina has truly transformed the world of opera, navigating challenges and breaking barriers along the way.”
The International Opera Awards are the most prestigious awards in the opera world and celebrate operatic talent from around the world over the past year. Previous Leadership Award honorees have included heads of Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Bregenz Festival, as well as leaders from Warsaw, Naples, Frankfurt, and many more.
Under Scheppelmann’s leadership, Seattle Opera has thrived through unprecedented challenges like COVID-19. During the pandemic, which began shortly after her arrival, Seattle Opera was able to provide unique, filmed opera experiences for its 2020/21 season, making it one of the few major opera houses in the United States to do so. In August 2021, Seattle Opera held its first outdoor concert of Die Walküre to celebrate the city’s return to live performance. The return of opera to McCaw Hall shortly thereafter launched the slate of over 100 Seattle Opera debuts, with nearly 50 international artists making their company debuts in the subsequent three seasons.
Seattle Opera also strongly embraced contemporary opera during Scheppelmann’s tenure including the successful world premiere of A Thousand Splendid Suns in 2023 and the West-Coast premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue in 2022 as well as productions of Huang Ruo’s Bound and Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. On October 12, Seattle Opera will deliver yet another world premiere under Scheppelmann: Tazewell Thompson’s Jubilee.
Through Scheppelmann’s commitment to community engagement, Seattle Opera has also strengthened its belief that opera is for everyone and expanded accessibility efforts. In May 2023, Seattle Opera provided its first relaxed performance of La traviata and welcomed over 2,000 people for free public events over the course of the 2022/23 season. Seattle Opera has also launched new community programs which focus on fostering new talent in opera, such as the Jane Lang Davis Creation Lab and the Seattle Arts Fellowship.
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