“Stained Glass,” a groundbreaking original opera created and staged by Frost School artists, was given a major award in The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, the nation’s most comprehensive honor for the performing arts.
Composed by Shawn Crouch, Frost School associate professor of composition, with a libretto by alumna Dana Kaufman, D.M.A. ’18; and directed and produced by Jeffrey Buchman, the program and stage director for the Frost Opera Theater, “Stained Glass” was awarded The American Prize in Composition, the Thomas Putsché Award, in the opera/theater/film/dance division for 2025.
The chamber opera tells the tragic story of Mamah Borthwick, the romantic and intellectual partner of Frank Lloyd Wright, the godfather of modern American architecture, who in 1914 was brutally murdered along with her two young children at Taliesin, the visionary home Wright built for them.
Staged in April 2024, “Stained Glass” was conceived to take advantage of the high-tech, multimedia capabilities of the Thomas D. Hormel Music Innovation Stage in the Knight Center for Music Innovation, utilizing augmented reality and other techniques to create a magical, immersive performance experience. “The space was part of the creative process,” Buchman said at the time.
“It is a great honor to have 'Stained Glass' recognized with The American Prize,” said Crouch. “I am truly grateful to have brought this piece into the world in collaboration with my wonderful colleagues Dana Kaufman and Jeffrey Buchman. Especially since it is a work that expands the opera-theater experience through cutting-edge technology, including immersive projections that helped us tell the story in new and powerful ways.”
Kaufman, a composer, librettist and Frost School Centennial Medalist who is an associate professor of composition at the University of California, Riverside, was gratified that a collaboration which brought her back to the Frost School, for a project that was deeply meaningful to her, had been honored.
“Stained Glass” intertwines the newest technologies with little-known feminist history that is over a century old, and I'm grateful for the significant recognition this old-and-new avenue of storytelling is receiving,” Kaufman said. “It has been a thrill to work with such imaginative collaborators and return to an institution I love deeply.”
Founded in 2010, The American Prize is unique in recognizing performing artists, directors, ensembles, and composers, not just at the professional level, but for colleges and universities, community groups, and high schools. The contest has grown to attract thousands of entries from hundreds of communities and schools in every state of the union, an extraordinary scope that encompasses the nation’s artistry at every level.
Crouch said The American Prize is particularly meaningful for music creators. “It is regarded as one of the country’s most respected awards for composers, in part because it evaluates the work itself—scores, recordings, and artistic statements—rather than résumés or professional affiliations,” he said.
