Composer Lisa Bielawa Named as 2023 Guggenheim Fellow

The American composer will work on two projects during her fellowship, including a new opera

American composer, vocalist, and producer Lisa Bielawa has been named as one of the 171 Fellows of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for 2023. The fellowships offers grants of between $30,000 and $45,000 for individuals who have excelled in their field. This year, the Fellows were selected from a pool of almost 2,000 applicants.

Bielawa will use her Fellowship period to work on two projects: a new opera, titled La Ballonniste, and a new book of prose vignettes focusing on her experiences and encounters with music. The opera will be based on the life of Élisabeth Thible, who was an opera singer and the first woman to fly a hot air balloon.

Born in San Francisco, Lisa Bielawa is the recipient of the Rome Prize, the 2017 Music Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, and the 2020 OPERA America Grant for Female Composers. She was named a William Randolph Hearst Visiting Artist Fellow at the American Antiquarian Society for 2018, and was Artist-in-Residence at Kaufman Music Center in New York for the 2020-2021 season.

Recent highlights include the 2022 premiere of Bielawa's violin concerto Sanctuary, which was given by violinist Jennifer Koh and conducted by Marin Alsop.

"I’m so deeply honored to be among this year’s Guggenheim Fellows," Bielawa said. "Sincere thanks to the many members of my musical family for our work together. This honor is for all of us."