Pulitzer 2012: Kevin Puts' Opera 'Silent Night' Wins For Music Category

Kevin Puts' opera, "Silent Night" has won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Commissioned by the Minnesota Opera with co-producer Opera Company of Philadelphia, and a libretto by Mark Campbell, "Silent Night" is a musical reworking of a true life tale about a Christmas-time ceasefire between Scottish, German and French soldiers during World War I.

The opera, Puts' first, beat out two other finalists, Tod Machover and his electronic opera "Death and the Powers" and Andrew Norman's "The Companion Guide to Rome," a musical representation of nine historic churches. This year's jury included professor Chuck Owen, Carnegie Hall director of artistic planning Jeremy Geffen, composer Jennifer Higdon, writer Steven Smith, and jazz pianist and composer Kenny Werner.

Last year's Pulitzer Prize went to the opera "Madame White Snake" by Zhou Long. "Silent Night" is the sixth opera to win a Pulitzer for Music since the category began in 1943.

Watch the aria, "J'ai perdu ta photo" from "Silent Night" below: