Sigma Alpha Iota

National RECOGNITION NEA Bestows Lifetime Honors to Distinguished Members T wo Distinguished Members of Sigma Alpha Iota were among a number of artists named as recipients of National Endowment for the Arts lifetime honors on June 24. Honorary Member and opera legend Risë Stevens and National Arts Associate, Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Ward were named as NEA Opera Honors by NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman at a meeting of the National Council on the Arts, the NEA's advisory body. Now in its fourth year, the NEA Opera Honors is the highest award formally bestowed in opera on behalf of the nation. Also named were stage designer John Conklin and general director Speight Jenkins. "These artists represent the highest level of artistic mastery and we are proud to recognize their achievements," said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. "Through their contributions, we have been challenged, enlightened, and charmed, and we thank them for devoting their careers to expanding and supporting their art forms." "These four individuals have contributed significantly to opera in the United States, lending their talents and commitment to enhancing what we see, hear, feel, and think about opera,"  NEA Director of Music & Opera Wayne Brown said. The NEA Opera Honors were announced in conjunction with the announcement of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships and NEA Jazz Master Awards recipients. Those honored in their respective categories will each receive an $25,000 award and celebrations at their respective awards ceremonies and concerts. They were chosen from nominations submitted by the public and reviewed by panels of their peers. John Conklin's conceptual design style has had an enormous influence.  He is one of the principal figures in American stage design, both for opera and for theater, and his set and costume designs are seen in opera houses, theaters, and ballet companies around the world.  Concurrent with his work as a stage designer, Conklin has taught many aspiring designers through his courses in design for stage and film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Speight Jenkins is recognized nationally as a leading authority on opera and an accomplished arts administrator.  Appointed general director of the Seattle Opera in 1983, he strengthened and expanded the company as a Wagner center in the United States.  Jenkins also is known for his prolific writing about opera through reviews and articles. 6 SAI Archives SAI Honorary Member Risë Stevens Mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens virtually owned many of the great mezzo roles such as Gluck's Orpheus and Saint-Saën's Delilah.  She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of Bizet's Carmen 124 times.  But many more fell in love with Stevens through her frequent radio appearances and through the films The Chocolate Soldier (1941) with Nelson Eddy and Going My Way (1944) with Bing Crosby.  Robert Ward is admired for his career as an American composer.  A respected conductor, administrator, and publishing executive, Ward is equally admired as an academic, having served as chancellor of the North Carolina School for the Arts and as music professor at Duke University. Among his compositions are eight operas – including The Crucible, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize – seven symphonies, three concerti, two cantata, and songs for solo voice with accompaniment.  The 2011 NEA Opera Honorees will be celebrated in an awards ceremony and concert in Washington, DC at the Sidney Harman Center for the Performing Arts on October 27. Past NEA Opera Honorees are SAI Composers PAN PIPES SUMMER 2011 sai-national.org Bureau Members John Adams and Carlisle Floyd; Honorary Members Martina Arroyo and Leontyne Price, Frank Corsaro, David DiChiera, Richard Gaddes, Philip Glass, Marilyn Horne, James Levine, Lotfi Mansouri, Eve Queler, and Julius Rudel. Risë Stevens Biography Born Risë Steenberg in the Bronx on June 11, 1913, and raised in Queens, mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens is known and respected worldwide for her vibrant career in opera. A pupil of Anna Schoen-René at the Juilliard School, Stevens turned down a contract offer from the Metropolitan Opera in the mid 1930s to develop her artistry in Europe, mostly at the opera in Prague. She returned to the United States in 1938, making her debut with the Metropolitan Opera on tour in Philadelphia as Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Later that same year, she made her New York Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Ambroise Thomas' Mignon. She virtually owned many of the great mezzo roles such as Gluck's Orpheus (Orfeo ed Euridice) and Saint-Saën's Delilah (Samson

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