Durham composer wins top opera award

DURHAM

Robert Eugene Ward, a composer living in Durham, N.C., is among four opera artists slated to receive a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors award later this year.

The program, which presents the top award the nation bestows in opera, is in its fourth year. “These artists represent the highest level of artistic mastery and we are proud to recognize their achievements,” said Rocco Landesman, NEA chairman, in a release. “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.”

Ward, 93, is best known for his popular, Pulitzer Prize-winning opera, “The Crucible.” His compositions include eight operas, seven symphonies, three concerti and many more works.

He taught at Juilliard in New York from 1947 to 1956, and later was appointed chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts (1967-1974). From 1979 until his retirement in 1989, he was a music professor at Duke University in Durham.

The awards ceremony is set for Oct. 27 at the Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. Stage designer John Conklin; Speight Jenkins, a general director; and Rise Stevens, a mezzo-soprano, also will receive the honor. Each honoree will receive $25,000.