OPERA America announces that UNT Associate Professor and Music Director of UNT Opera, Stephanie Rhodes Russell, as recipient of a 2023 Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors. She will conduct THE KNOCK (Aleksandra Vrebalov, composer; Deborah Brevoort, librettist) at Cincinnati Opera. “These grants open doors for women artists by incentivizing professional opera companies of all sizes to engage women in key artistic roles. These hires enrich the production and performance of new operas and works from the inherited repertoire and inspire future generations of creative artists who identify as women.”

Matthew Dexter, bass-baritone, received the 2022-2023 Presser Award. Considered the most prestigious undergraduate award in music at UNT, the Presser Foundation Undergraduate Scholar award is presented annually to a student, at the conclusion of his or her junior year, who has shown extraordinary musical and academic accomplishments. The winner is nominated and selected by the UNT music faculty and receives the award from the Presser Foundation, which awards annual scholarships, grants and funds for furthering music education and music in America. The organization was founded in 1916 by Theodore Presser, music publisher and philanthropist.