The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University announced the commissioning of a new mainstage opera, resulting from a major financial commitment by David ’84 and Susan Lummis in memory of their daughter Adelaide Emily Lummis. The opera, composed by Paola Prestini with libretto by Mark Campbell, will have its world premiere at the Lucian and Nancy Morrison Theater at Brockman Hall for Opera in the 2029-30 academic year with workshops beginning in 2028. This commission will give Shepherd School students a complete hands-on experience in bringing an opera to life, from early readings to fully staged performances.
Adelaide Lummis was born in Houston and trained as an actor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, graduating in 2015 then moving to Los Angeles to work in the theater and on screen. She died of cancer in November 2025 at the age of 32. After conversations with Matthew Loden, the Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music, David and Susan Lummis chose to honor Adelaide’s love of the theatrical arts by commissioning a new opera with a commitment to the young performers who, like Adelaide, are at the start of their careers.
During her final months, Adelaide was reading about the life of Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanov (the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra) and her sister Olga. Their relationship forms the creative heart of the new opera, a 90-minute one-act work focusing on the human, domestic side of the Romanov sisters as war and revolution unfold offstage.
“At its core, the story of Tatiana Romanov is not a history lesson about empires; it is a story of love, devotion and a young woman making the courageous choice to stand by her family even as the world around her fractures,” Prestini said. “Collaborating with Mark Campbell to bring the Lummis’ tribute to their daughter Adelaide to life at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music is a profound honor. Writing for the exceptional young artists at the Shepherd School allows us to capture the genuine youth, vulnerability and resilience of Tatiana and Olga, tracing their journey from lyrical intimacy to profound dramatic silence.”
The Lummis family’s deep ties to Houston and Rice extend back generations. David’s mother Marilyn renovated the Lummis Courtyard in Alice Pratt Brown Hall and both his father Dr. Frederick Rice Lummis Jr. and grandfather served as Rice trustees and were direct descendants of William Marsh Rice’s younger brother. Continuing this family legacy, David has served as board president of the Shepherd Society Governing Council and Advisory Board, helping to safeguard the Shepherd School’s long-term future.
“Adelaide loved Russian drama, literature and culture her entire life,” David Lummis said. “Given how things played out, her fascination with the doomed Romanov family is especially poignant. Susan and I are so honored to assist this amazing creative team in bringing this project to life in memory of our wonderful daughter.”
“David has been such an incredible partner, merging his wide-ranging intellect and love of the art form into a wonderfully collaborative partnership,” Loden said. “Being able to honor the memory of Adelaide while simultaneously bringing together such a powerful cast of creators is a rare moment. This will be an incredibly meaningful new work that already promises to live far beyond our Shepherd School premiere.”
“David and Susan Lummis’s support will have an immeasurable impact on Shepherd opera students,” said Joshua Winograde, director of opera studies. “Being involved in the creation of a new opera from inception to performance is an unforgettable experience for opera singers, and our singers getting to participate in that process so early in their careers is a priceless gift made possible through the Lummis’ generosity.”
Working in close collaboration with the Lummis family, Loden and Winograde have assembled an all-star creative team to bring this opera to life. Prestini was named one of the top 35 female composers in classical music by The Washington Post and one of the top 100 composers under 40 by NPR. A visionary artist for whom collaboration is central to her mission, Prestini co-founded the Brooklyn venue National Sawdust in 2015 in order to nurture and support the creators who are reshaping classical music for the 21st century.
Campbell is a Pulitzer Prize- and GRAMMY-winning librettist whose operas are among the most popular in the contemporary canon. Campbell received the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association and was inducted into the OPERA America Hall of Fame in 2026. In 2020, he created the Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, the first and only award for opera librettists, administered annually by OPERA America. Prestini and Campbell previously collaborated on the 2023 opera “Edward Tulane,” based on a book by Newbery Award-winning author Kate DiCamillo.
“The Shepherd School of Music’s investment in new work and its ascension in the opera community takes a big leap forward in this exciting new commission,” Campbell said. “I’m honored to be a part of it and am greatly looking forward to collaborating with Paola Prestini again. Our opera about the Duchess Tatiana will offer a moving portrait of a young woman who could not escape the fate she was born into as a daughter of the last tsar of Russia.”
During Loden’s tenure as dean, the Shepherd School has solidified its role as a unique bridge between the academic study of music and the professional world. Under Winograde’s direction, the Shepherd Opera program produces two fully staged operas each year in Brockman Hall for Opera, which have included vital contemporary works such as John Corigliano’s “The Ghosts of Versailles” in 2025 and, coming in April 2027, the Texas premiere and first university performances of Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s “Eurydice.” From numerous faculty commissions and world premieres — including Karim Al-Zand’s one-act opera “A Joint Interest” and Pierre Jalbert’s song cycle “Another Starry Night” for mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke ’04, both Shepherd School 50th anniversary commissions in 2025 — to on-campus workshops for cutting-edge new works in development such as Aucoin and Peter Sellars’ “Music for New Bodies” commissioned with DACAMERA in 2024, regular partnerships with local performing arts organizations like the Houston Symphony, the Houston Grand Opera and the recently announced Cliburn International Conducting Competition launching in 2028, the Shepherd School offers meaningful opportunities for its students to learn experientially from leading artists around the world.