University honors

David DiChiera introduced an esoteric art from to hundreds of new, appreciative listeners through his work in establishing Michigan’s professional opera company, Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT), which is committed to performing in English. MOT was an outgrowth of the Overture to Opera series, a program of staged operatic scenes and one-act operas DiChiera narrated and toured in Michigan schools and community centers. The son of Italian immigrants, DiChiera pursued his love of music as a student at UCLA, where he graduated with highest honors. After receiving a master’s degree in composition and a Ph.D. in musicology at UCLA, he studied as a Fulbright scholar in Italy. He has received critical acclaim for his own composing and, collaborating with his wife, penned a children’s opera which has been nationally performed. He is severing his second term as president of OPERA America, a service organization for professional opera companies in North, Central and South America.

 

Award was presented at the President;s Cabinet Fifteenth Annual Awards Dinner, May 7, 1982.