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Biography
Dr. David DiChiera was an American composer and opera theater director based in Detroit, Michigan. Born in 1935 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania to Italian immigrant parents Maria and Cosimo DiChiera, he began studying piano at a young age. DiChiera received his BA in 1956, his MA in Composition in 1958 and his Phd in Musicology in 1962 from UCLA. He completed a Fulbright Scholar year in Naples, Italy, researching 18th Century Neopolitan composer Gian Francesco de Majo, the subject of his doctoral dissertation. DiChiera came to Michigan in 1962 to help build the School of Music at the then-newly established Oakland University.
Over a span of more than 40 years, DiChiera founded and served as general director for two opera companies and served as artistic director for a third. DiChiera was named chairman of the board of OPERA America from 1979–1983. During his tenure, two major programs were initiated, which continue to have a lasting impact on opera in America. Opera for the '80s and Beyond developed innovative methods of encouraging and funding new American musical theater works. Opera for a New America supported companies in their efforts to reach previously underserved segments of their communities. DiChiera is recognized as a driving force for arts and culture in Southeast Michigan and a proponent of the operatic arts worldwide. In 2010 he received the NEA Opera Honors Award. At the behest of the President of Italy, in 2016 DiChiera received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy's highest honor) in recognition of his “lifelong commitment to the dissemination of the Italian language and culture and his dynamic promotion of Italian opera.” For more on DiChiera's life and career, please view this Kresge Foundation monograph, celebrating his life and work for the 2013 Kresge Eminent Artist Award.
Productions
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Artist Information
All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below. Title Information Form Artist Information Form
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