Opera Saratoga’s Next Chapter Begins Now

BIG IMAGINATION, NEW PARTNERSHIPS (AND A TOUR!), AND A NEW HEAD OF MUSIC STAFF MAKE FOR A SPECTACULAR 65TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON   

Saratoga Springs, NY (Oct. 31) –  Opera Saratoga — the Capital Region’s only professional opera company — is celebrating its 65th anniversary with its eyes firmly on the future, with a modern new minimalism that makes room for maximum drama.   

“With a move towards the future, Opera Saratoga announces an upcoming season that is stripped down, up close, and unmistakably NOW,” says General and Artistic Director Mary Birnbaum. “The modern audience has made it clear that it wants to connect with art that has a level of realness and purity. So, we’re pushing imagination to take center stage with minimal scenery and maximum drama.” 

After the company’s first-ever winter offering, a semi-staged “La bohème” at Universal Preservation Hall 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, the company will produce a touring education opera “Stone Soup” by Mark Campbell and Joe Illick. This opera will tour over 30 schools and community venues throughout March, booking through info@operasaratoga.org now. 

In May, Opera Saratoga and the Glimmerglass Festival will form a historic New York State partnership to present Kurt Weill, Berthold Brecht, and Elizabeth Hauptmann’s “Happy End.” 

Censored after its second performance in Germany in 1929, “Happy End” is a satire of big business and big religion; at a neighborhood watering hole where gangsters do deals and the Salvation Army saves souls, Weill asks the question, ‘How different are we, anyway?’ With a glorious score including “Bilbao Song,” “Mandalay Song,” and “Surabaya Johnny,” “Happy End” is sure to sparkle. 

“Happy End” will be music directed by Robert Ainsley, the Artistic and General Director of the Glimmerglass Festival and feature Ana Karneža, who won the ’Kurt Weill Foundations Lotte Lenya competition in 2024. The performance will be directed by Mary Birnbaum in collaboration with the Glimmerglass Festival dramaturg Kelley Rourke. Birnbaum says “This is an exciting new model of producing opera where regional companies partner with each other to bring opera to individual communities rather than expecting them to travel to us. We’re hoping to build a new audience for opera throughout the state and to focus on sustainability by partnering with the Glimmerglass Festival, whose work we admire.” The piece will tour venues all over the state including two performances at Universal Preservation Hall 7 p.m. May 28 and 30. 

Ainsley says, “At Glimmerglass, we’ve always believed that opera should be a shared experience — something that brings people together in unexpected ways. This exciting new collaboration with Opera Saratoga allows us to reach new audiences, nurture artists, and keep this art form thriving — bringing great stories and music to communities across New York. “Happy End” has so much heart, humor, and humanity — it is the perfect piece to share with new audiences and to celebrate what’s possible when companies work together.” 

The Opera Saratoga Summer Festival season, which features 20 rising opera stars selected from a pool of 850, continues with a Rodgers & Hammerstein concert at the Mansion of Saratoga 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. May 31, Festival Artist Portrait Concerts focused on what made the singers want to become artists at Saratoga Arts 7 p.m. Wednesdays May 20, 27, June 3, and 10, and fully staged productions from June 20-28 of Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady,” Donizetti’s “The Elixir of Love,” and a workshop of “Drift” from Opera Saratoga’s first ever mainstage commission from an all-female team, composer Alyssa Weinberg and librettist, J. Mae Barizo.  

“The Elixir of Love,” Gaetano Donizetti and Felice Romani’s charming romantic comedy, tells the story of puppy dog Nemorino who is in love with the brilliant and wealthy landowner, Adina. When the traveling (quack) Doctor Dulcamara comes to town selling cures of all kinds, Nemorino purchases a love potion, which is in reality, a bottle of Bordeaux. Will the potion work its magic on Adina as Donizetti’s music works its magic on audiences centuries after “Elixir’s” debut? Find out at this touching bel-canto opera, which features some of Donizetti’s most beautiful and memorable music including “Una furtiva lagrima” and “Prendi per me se libero.” “With Saratoga’s history as a healing town, ‘Elixir’ is a very fun choice for this season, and one of my very favorite pieces of the standard repertoire,” says Birnbaum.  

A perfect first opera for the opera-curious, and one that seasoned opera lovers return to time after time. Directed by John Giampietro who directed 2025’s perfect “She Loves Me,” and conducted by Nicolò Sbuelz (Metropolitan Opera), “Elixir” will feature a chorus of excellent local singers for the first time in over 25 years at Opera Saratoga! Four performances at UPH: 2 p.m. June 21 and 7 p.m. June 23, 25, and 27. 

“My Fair Lady,” Lerner and Loewe’s iconic musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” will run in repertory with “Elixir.” When hard-headed British phonetics professor Henry Higgins takes Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle under his wing to transform her into a lady, cultures clash and Higgins and Eliza form an unlikely bond. With timeless songs like “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” and “I Could Have Danced All Night,” the Opera Saratoga version will be a love letter to theatre, with 10 singing actors playing all the roles and two pianists forming the orchestra. Directed by Birnbaum and choreographed by Julia Eichten, the production will be music directed by Adam Nielsen. 
 
“This dueling piano orchestration of Lerner and Loewe’s masterpiece features the famous Ascot racetrack scene, which has a fabulous connection to Saratoga. And of course, Eliza and Henry have one of most the hilarious and heartbreaking relationships in modern drama,” says Birnbaum, “I’m looking forward to bringing their story to life with tenderness and care alongside of Julia Eichten, an incredible contemporary choreographer whose work deals with gender, and Adam Nielsen, our new Head of Music.” Four performances at UPH: 7 p.m. June 20, 24, and 26 and 2 p.m. June 28; sung in English.  

“After the positive audience response to ‘Mass for Women in Bathrooms’ last summer, we knew we had to continue workshopping a new piece during the festival. With stunning and dreamy soundscapes and a circular structure, Alyssa and J. Mae are going to take a (gentle) sledgehammer to what your idea of opera is, and you will leave edified and moved,” says Birnbaum. 

“DRIFT,” by composer Alyssa Weinberg (Founding Director of Composers Institute, Lake George Music Festival) and librettist J. Mae Barizo, is about motherlands, migration, and memory set amidst the pressing crises of our time. Opera Saratoga will produce a piano/electronics workshop of the piece this summer, conducted by Christopher Allen (Fourth Wall Ensemble)and directed by Caili Quan (NYC Ballet, Choreographer of OS’ “She Loves Me” and “Guys and Dolls”). Two workshop performances: 7 p.m. June 21 and 2 p.m. June 26, sung in English. 

In addition to the announcement of the programming, Opera Saratoga is thrilled to announce the appointment of pianist, coach, and educator Nielsen to the company as the Head of Music Staff and Director of the Festival Artist Program. Birnbaum says. “Adam’s work on the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera, as a recitalist with major opera stars like Davòne Tines and Ryan Speedo Green, as well as his work as an educator at The Juilliard School, make him a perfect fit to lead the Festival Artist Program into the next era of Opera Saratoga. In addition, we are so lucky to have Laurie Rogers continuing to lead the company in a new role as Director of Artistic Operations.” 

Subscriptions go on sale 12 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7 with donor presale starting 12 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4 by calling the Box Office at Proctors (518) 346-6204. For more information about Opera Saratoga, visit operasaratoga.org. This production of “My Fair Lady” is licensed by Music Theatre International. To subscribe to Opera Saratoga’s mailing list, please visit operasaratoga.org. 

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About Opera Saratoga: 

Opera Saratoga, formerly known as Lake George Opera, began with a production of “Die Fledermaus” at the Diamond Point Theatre July 5, 1962, playing to an audience of 230. The Company now calls Saratoga Springs home and performs for more than 25,000 people annually. Opera Saratoga celebrates its 65th anniversary this season. The company serves the communities of Saratoga Springs, the Lower Adirondack, and New York State Capital areas by providing access to world-class opera through the production of an annual Summer Festival, as well as year-round activities including extensive educational programs, mentorship of emerging operatic artists, and unique opportunities for the public to experience opera in both our home theatre and non-traditional venues that leverage and embrace the unique cultural, historic, and natural resources of the area. To date, the company has performed 106 different fully staged works by 66 different composers, including 42 works by American composers and 14 premiere productions. In 2023, the company hired its 10th Artistic and General Director, Mary Birnbaum.