Opera about Maria Mitchell Wins Pellicciotti Composition Prize

Erin Holdgate • November 1, 2022

Nantucket, MA – SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music in New York is proud to announce the winner of the third Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize, following the recent competition finals.

 

Composer Timothy C. Takach and librettist Caitlin Vincent were selected as the recipients of the 2024 Pellicciotti Prize for their new opera, “Computing Venus.” The opera, still being written, provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of astronomer Maria Mitchell, a ground-breaking historical figure who paved the way for women in STEM in the nineteenth century. The opera follows Mitchell’s efforts to cultivate the next generation of women astronomers, even as growing movements threatened to close the world of science to women forever. 

 

“We are so fortunate that our students have the opportunity to bring Maria Mitchell’s story to life on the stage,” said Dr. William Gibbons, dean of The Crane School. “Timothy C. Takach and Caitlin Vincent are creating a powerful work that speaks to issues women around the world face every day, and collaborating on this world premiere is an experience our students, faculty and community will never forget.”

 

Takach and Vincent will receive a $25,000 commission to complete the new work, which will premiere in Fall 2024, with a full production at The Crane School of Music by the award-winning Crane Opera Ensemble and Orchestra.

 

The Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize was founded by Dr. Gary C. Jaquay ’67 to honor his life partner, Domenic J. Pellicciotti, an ardent fan of opera. The award seeks to encourage and acknowledge the creation of new opera works that explore themes related to tolerance, inclusion, or the celebration of diversity. The Pellicciotti Prize is awarded every four years.

 

“This competition has been an incredible opportunity for students of the Crane Opera Ensemble to learn, workshop and premiere new works with the composers and librettists in the room to guide them. All the final selections have left a profound impact on our students and community. These composers and librettists have shown that the future of opera is in exceptional hands, and we hope to see all the selections come to life onstage in the future,” said Crane School of Music Assistant Professor Dr. Brock Tjosvold, who directed the finals. “The Crane Opera Ensemble is looking forward to premiering ‘Computing Venus’ in 2024!”

 

Noted American dramaturg Cori Ellison worked with the composers and librettists chosen as finalists, and will continue to collaborate with Takach and Vincent as they complete the opera project.

 

About the Winners:

Inspired by narrative, magical realism, speculative fiction and making better humans through art, the music of Timothy C. Takach has become a mainstay in the concert world. Applauded for his melodic lines, text choices and rich, intriguing harmonies, his compositions are performed worldwide. He is a co-founder of Cantus, Graphite Publishing and Nation, and he is a co-creator of the theatrical production “All is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914.” Takach has frequent work as a composer-in-residence, presenter, conductor, clinician and lecturer.

 

Caitlin Vincent is an award-winning librettist known for her nuanced character portraits and compelling treatments of historical subjects. Recent operatic works include “Better Gods” (Washington National Opera), “Uncle Alex” (Washington National Opera), “Tienda” (Schubert Club of Minnesota), and “Nullipara” (Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble). In 2017, Vincent and composer Douglas Buchanan won the Sackler Music Composition Prize for “Bessie and Ma,” an opera about the first female AfricanAmerican aviator and first female governor of Texas. A classically-trained soprano, Vincent graduated from Harvard University and holds a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory and a Ph.D. from Deakin University in Australia. She is currently on faculty at the University of Melbourne.

 

About the Crane Opera Ensemble:

The award-winning Crane Opera Ensemble is a significant source for opera and music theatre in the North Country region of New York State. The ensemble provides exciting opportunities for students to experience all facets of opera performance and production through rehearsals, coaching and classes related to performance practices and production techniques. The ensemble’s productions have garnered awards from the National Opera Association (2019, 2018, 2015, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2003), The American Prize (2018, 2011), and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (2010). 

 

About The Crane School of Music:

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York’s only All-Steinway institution and was one of the first Yamaha Institutions of Excellence. For more information, please visit www.potsdam.edu/crane. For more information about the Pellicciotti Prize, visit www.potsdam.edu/pellicciotti. 

 

About The Maria Mitchell Association:

The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.
 


###

 

For Immediate Release

November 1, 2022

Contact: Erin Holdgate, Marketing Director

eholdgate@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 7, 2025
July 31, 1883. I had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went to Holderness, N.H.. to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T to join her party. There was at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr., and Mrs. Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale . . . The house seemed full of fine, cultivate people. We stayed two days and a half. And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes lie the mountains.  The Asquam House sat atop Shepard Hill and was built in 1881. A hotel, it has space for fifty guests, it was located near Squam Lake and became part of a summer enclave that developed there in the later part of the nineteenth century. Today, the area is a National Historic Landmark, but sadly, the hotel was demolished in 1948. Maria would have been familiar with these people seen here – and others I did not include – but particularly John Greenleaf Whittier who was something of a family friend. He was close to one of her younger brothers, William Forester. JNLF

Keep Calm and Bird On: July 2025

July 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews

The Birth of the Maria Mitchell Observatory: Celebrating Over 100 Years of Discovery

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 30, 2025
As we are now complete with the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO), I thought it would be good to post a series of blogs concerning it history and activities, as well as some of the amazing people who have made it what it is over the last 100 plus years. Therefore, over the next few weeks, the focus will be on the MMO. And it is now open for tours – Monday through Saturday 11-1PM. Founded in 1902, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) had its beginnings in the Mitchell House where Maria Mitchell was born. Over the first few years, the preservation of the Mitchell House, family artifacts, and the collection and display of Nantucket’s native flora and fauna, as well as a small library, were the key components of the MMA. Special “Moon Evenings” were held on the lawn and people observed Nantucket’s night skies using several small telescopes, including William and Maria Mitchell’s two-and-three-quarter-inch Dollond telescope. The popular evenings led to the inevitable – a desire and need to expand based on the demands of the visitors to, and members of, the MMA. In 1906, Lydia Hinchman, a founder of the MMA and a family member, purchased the house and lot adjacent to the Mitchell House. The house – once the home of William Mitchell’s father and mother – was taken down. The MMA began a dialogue with the Harvard College Observatory and its director, Edward Pickering, Ph.D. The connection to Harvard was to become essential to the success of the beginning years of the Maria Mitchell Observatory and continued a legacy of friendship and work – Maria Mitchell and her father worked with the Bonds who once ran the observatory at Harvard and the families were close friends. Besides his assistance, Pickering asked a member of his staff, Annie Jump Cannon, to assist the MMA. This “provided an indispensable collaboration for Nantucket astronomy,” with Cannon spending two weeks on the island in 1906 and 1907 lecturing and teaching. While back at Harvard, she continued to teach the students on Nantucket by mail. Cannon would go on to be recognized as the leading woman astronomer of her generation and as the founder of the MMA’s Astronomy Department. JNLF
Show More