Donnacha Dennehy

Dennehy receives Fedora Prize for new opera

By
The Office of Communications
on June 9, 2017, 11:41 a.m.

Donnacha Dennehy

Photo by Britt Olsen-Ecker

Donnacha Dennehy, an assistant professor of music and a composer, has received the Fedora Prize for his new opera, "The Second Violinist." Irish writer Enda Walsh wrote the book for the opera, which tells the story of the second violinist of an ensemble.

The award of 150,000 euros (approximately $169,000) — given by the European Circle of Philanthropists of Opera and Ballet, and the Generali Group — was established to promote talent and creativity through co-productions of new operas and ballets.

The premiere of "The Second Violinist" — co-produced by two Irish companies, Landmark Productions and Wide Open Opera — will take place July 26 at the Galway International Arts Festival. Walsh will direct the premiere, conducted by U.S. conductor Ryan McAdams. The opera will also be performed October 2-8 as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Related Stories

Being composed: The art of learning to write music .

What does composing music look like? At Princeton, composition is taught at the undergraduate and graduate level. In this story, four members of the Department of Music describe their creative process, the surprising upside of learning composition at a liberal arts university versus a conservatory, and the challenges and rewards of developing and performing new work. You can also view video clips of a work-in-progress by senior Stephanie Leotsakos and new works by Assistant Professor of Music Donnacha Dennehy and graduate student Yuri Boguinia.

Princeton faculty Bialek, Dennehy, Mian, Perry, Ralph and Taylor and three graduate alumni win 2021 Guggenheim Fellowships .

Six Princeton faculty members and three graduate alumni have received 2021 Guggenheim Fellowships.

Peter Westergaard, music scholar and ‘composer of formidable skill’ dies at 88 .

Peter Westergaard, the William Conant Professor of Music, Emeritus, and composer of chamber music, opera and orchestral works, died June 26 at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center, after a brief battle with cancer. He was 88.

Dudamel! Anatomy of a cross-campus residency .

From stage to classroom, Gustavo Dudamel celebrates the power of music to foster social change during a year-long residency at Princeton.

In McCarter Theatre’s ‘Dreaming Zenzile,’ an accomplished alumna's own dream comes true .

Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, a Princeton alumna and current Hodder Fellow who's a composer, vocalist and scholar, has come full circle since the day she sat in a McCarter audience 10 years ago and made a wish to one day be up on that stage. 

Alumnus Roger S. Berlind, former trustee and ‘visionary spirit’ of the arts and humanities at Princeton, dies at 90 .

Roger S. Berlind, a member of Princeton’s Class of 1952, former University trustee, Tony Award-winning producer, and a supporter of the arts and humanities at Princeton, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Dec. 18 at his home in Manhattan. He was 90.

Creative collaboration produces original opera .

Students in Princeton's Atelier program, which brings guest artists to campus to collaborate with students and faculty, will direct and perform "The Antient Concert," an original chamber opera written by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon and composer Daron Hagen. The performance, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Sunday, April 17, in the Berlind Theatre.