University of Cincinnati
05/05/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/05/2026 13:34
CCM Stage Design alumna receives prestigious Rome Prize
CCM Stage Design alumna receives prestigious Rome Prize
Cameron Anderson is one of 31 recipients of the American Academy in Rome's national competition
7 minute read May 5, 2026 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print Story Like
UC College-Conservatory of Music alumna Cameron Anderson (MFA Stage Design, '02) is a 2026-27 recipient of the Rome Prize, a national competition that supports innovative work in various disciplines across the arts and humanities. The American Academy in Rome announced Anderson won the Billie Tsien Rome Prize in Design.
The fellowships are awarded through a national competition that supports innovative work in thirteen disciplines across the arts and humanities. The Rome Prize provides artists and scholars with dedicated time, space and a transdisciplinary community in which to advance their work within the city of Rome. The 31 fellows will reside and work at the Academy's 11-acre campus on the Janiculum Hill for periods ranging from five to 10 months, beginning in September 2026.
Cameron Anderson.
"The Rome Prize is awarded through a highly competitive national process across disciplines, including architecture, landscape architecture, and graphic design, and is widely considered one of the most prestigious honors an American artist can receive," Anderson said in a press release from Brandeis University, where she is the the Barbara Sherman '54 and Malcolm L. Sherman Associate Professor of Theater Arts.
"As a set designer working in the performing arts, it is particularly meaningful to be recognized within this broader design context, and I am honored to be included among this year's fellows."
Over her 25-year career, the internationally acclaimed scenic designer has designed over 100 productions at the world's leading theaters, opera companies and performance venues. Anderson recently expanded into design for the music industry and designed Charlie Puth's North American and International tour in 2023 with famed creative director and choreographer JaQuel Knight (Beyoncé, Megan the Stallion) which sold out Radio City Music Hall and venues all over the US and Asia. Other recent credits include work for Glimmerglass Opera, The Seattle Opera, The Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons, LAByrinth, The Roundabout and The Huntington Theatre.
Anderson was recently named the new resident set designer for the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. She designed the recent groundbreaking world premiere opera RUR: A Torrent of Light - on the cutting edge of international experimental opera integrating technology, immersive theater, music and video design - and won the Best New Opera in North America Award in 2023. Additional recent opera engagements include The San Francisco Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Central City Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Boston and On Site Opera (NYC). Her international work includes West Side Story for the Kilden Performing Arts Center in Norway and the Vancouver Opera, and Verdi's Simon Boccanegra for the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. Learn more on Anderson's professional website.
"Coming from a wide range of disciplines and practices, the 2026-27 cohort is united by their commitment to intellectual generosity and to cross-disciplinary engagement," said Peter N. Miller, President and CEO of the American Academy in Rome. "The Rome Prize is a bedrock of the Academy's mission to support the most compelling minds in the arts and humanities from across the United States. We look forward to welcoming this cohort and to the questions, ideas, and discoveries that will shape their time in the Eternal City."
"The American Academy in Rome has fostered creativity and intellectual rigor at the highest level for more than 130 years now. Each class of Fellows represents a special chapter in that history, yet together, they form a lineage that spans generations," said Calvin Tsao, Chair of the Board of Trustees. "It's a great privilege to welcome this year's Rome Prize Winners who will carry forward a long tradition of artistic and scholarly excellence."
About the Rome Prize
The Rome Prize provides artists and scholars with dedicated time, space, and a transdisciplinary community in which to advance their work within the city of Rome. The Italian Fellows Program brings Italian artists and scholars into this shared environment, where they develop their own projects alongside Rome Prize Fellows. The thirty-one Fellows will reside and work at the Academy's eleven-acre campus on the Janiculum Hill for periods ranging from five to ten months, beginning in September 2026.
Throughout the 2026-27 fellowship year, Rome Prize winners will be joined by a group of invited Residents - accomplished artists and scholars who come to the Academy for residencies of one to three months. In this shared environment, Fellows and Residents engage in ongoing exchange, participate in public programs and generate collaborations in Rome and throughout Italy, analyzing the relationships between past, present and future, fostering dialogue across disciplines and supporting new approaches to creative and scholarly work.
Rome Prize winners are selected annually by independent juries composed of distinguished artists and scholars. This year's competition drew 958 applicants from across the United States and U.S. citizens living abroad, with an acceptance rate of 3.03%.
The Academy supports 13 disciplines: Ancient studies, architecture, design, East-West Intersections, historic preservation and conservation, landscape architecture, literature, medieval studies, modern Italian studies, musical composition, Renaissance and early modern studies and visual arts. As of 2025, environmental arts and humanities has been introduced as an additional field of study.
Italian Fellows are likewise selected through a national jury process. The disciplines represented this year are musical composition and modern Italian studies.
A complete list of the 2026-27 Rome Prize and Italian Fellow Program winners, along with the juries who contributed to their selection is available on the American Academy in Rome website.
Featured image at the top: The world premiere of RUR: A Torrent of Light at Tapestry Opera. Directed by Michael Hidetoshi Mori; Scenic Design by Cameron Anderson.
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