Opera director Woodruff named Honored Artist by The American Prize

Copeland Woodruff, director of opera studies at Lawrence University, has received a prestigious honor from The American Prize, a celebration of his “sustained excellence” in opera theater.

Woodruff has been selected as a 2023 Honored Artist of The American Prize. Honored Artists are individuals (or ensembles) who have proven themselves to be of "sustained excellence" over a number of seasons as laureates of The American Prize competitions. Presented by The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, the award recognizes the honoree's contributions to the art. The recognition was announced as part of The American Prize's annual Independence Day Honors.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be recognized by The American Prize for this distinction,” Woodruff said. “I count myself a very lucky man to have worked with the artists I have over the years and been involved in the education of primarily young artists. I hope I have empowered them as much as my mentors did me and I hope that I’ve encouraged audiences to engage personally with their own theater experiences.”

Woodruff's American Prize honor follows the announcement earlier this year that Lawrence’s opera program received multiple semifinalist nods in the 2023 The American Prize competition. The American Prize annually hands out awards of excellence in the performing arts among nonprofit arts organizations and schools across the country. Award recipients are announced in the fall.

Lawrence was selected as a semifinalist in the Collegiate Opera Performance Division for two Opera Theatre productions: Suor Angelica/Curlew River and The Nefarious, Immoral, but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke & Mr. Hare.

Woodruff, meanwhile is a semifinalist for the Charles Nelson Reilly Prize for Stage Directors. And Kristin Roach, music director, is a semifinalist in the Conductor (opera and musical theater) Division.

Under Woodruff’s leadership, Lawrence’s Opera Theatre program has had a history of success with The American Prize. In 2017-18, two Lawrence productions tied for first place: The Beggar’s Opera and Hydrogen Jukebox; and Woodruff won the first Charles Nelson Reilly Prize in Stage Directing. In 2018-19, Count Ory won a Special Judges’ Citation.

Woodruff has been teaching in Lawrence’s Conservatory of Music since 2014. He has been highly sought after as a teacher of the singing actor, and has directed more than 100 productions, including the 2013 world premiere of Raise the Red Lantern at the Tianqiao Theatre in Beijing, China. Since 2006, his productions have earned 17 National Opera Association Best Opera Production Awards (including nine first-place awards) and nine awards in The American Prize.