Works & Process Presents HILDEGARD By Sarah Kirkland Snider at the Guggenheim

Image Courtesy of Works & Process

A collaboration between Beth Morrison Projects/PROTOTYPE Festival, LA Opera, and Aspen Music Festival and School

Works & Process presents HILDEGARD on Monday, September 15, 2025 at Guggenheim New York in the Peter B. Lewis Theater, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128 at 7 PM. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased here.

Join creative producer Beth Morrison; Christopher Koelsch, President and CEO, LA Opera; director Elkhanah Pulitzer; and composer Sarah Kirkland Snider for a discussion on the commissioning and creation of HILDEGARD, the composer’s first opera.

Set in 1147, HILDEGARD follows the brilliant, pioneering composer Hildegard von Bingen as she receives visions from God. Always at risk of being condemned by the church as a heretic, she decides to document her visions, enlisting her fellow nun Richardis von Stade to illustrate the manuscript. As their passion project bleeds into passion, the two women must confront the powers that would see them struck from history rather than making it.

Singers Nola Richardson and Mikaela Bennett, accompanied by Contemporaneous Ensemble will perform highlights from this intimate tale of two genius women finding their voices, ahead of the opera’s rolling world premiere this November in Los Angeles with LA Opera and in January at PROTOTYPE Festival in New York—marking the sixteenth collaboration between Beth Morrison Projects and LA Opera.

Leadership support for this Works & Process program is provided by Eugene and Jean Stark.

Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects. Commissioned in part by the Aspen Music Festival and School and OPERA America Grants for Female Composers award funded by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Additional commissioning support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts. The production of Hildegard received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Fund, New York State Council on the Arts, New Music USA, the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, William Kennedy, Betsy Greenberg, and Pamela Drexel. Developed and produced by Beth Morrison Projects.

Works & Process Lead Donors

Lead funding provided by Adam and Abigail Flatto, Christian Humann Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Stephen Kroll Reidy, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Caroline M. Sharp, The Evelyn Sharp Foundation, The SHS Foundation, and Eugene and Jean Stark.

Additional support provided by Jody and John Arnhold, Jeff and Susan Campbell, Cate Caruso, Stuart H. Coleman and Meryl Rosofsky, Paul Cronson, Duke Dang and Charles E. Rosen, Lucy and Philip Dobrin, Elizabeth Sharp Edens and Wes Edens, The Fanwood Foundation, Bart Friedman and Wendy Stein, Agnes Gund, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Barbara Ritchin, Denise and Andrew Saul, and Randall Sharp.

Works & Process is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

About Works & Process

Championing performing artists and their creative process at each step from studio to stage, Works & Process produces fully funded residencies and presents events that go behind the scenes, blending artist discussion and performance highlights. Works & Process events transcend the proscenium, encouraging audiences to spectate and participate beyond the stage, and culminate in receptions in the Guggenheim rotunda to continue the conversation.

Works & Process produces over 25 creative residencies annually. Expanding from our bubble residency program created during the COVID-19 pandemic, Works & Process now has a network of over a dozen partners in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont. In over 100 Works & Process residencies, supporting over 1,000 artists, incubated works have been recognized with awards and grants, and have toured nationally—and internationally with the U.S. State Department. These out-of-town residencies provide 24/7 studio access, on-site housing, access to health insurance enrollment, industry-leading artist fees, and a transportation stipend to facilitate uninterrupted creative process.

Beyond the Guggenheim, we also partner with organizations across New York, including 92NY and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jerome Robbins Dance Division. During the summer, we curate and present free outdoor dance programs with Manhattan West and City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage.

Works and Process, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Tax ID: 13-3592291

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