reviewer marvin j. ward found the opera a "compelling and captivating work", adding "...composer eric sawyer has a penchant for choosing historical events, especially local ones, as the subjects of his operas. this is the third that i have seen, each more polished and refined than its predecessor, with "the scarlet professor" scoring a 10/10 in my book." "the scarlet professor" won the 2019 "american prize" in opera composition.