Press Releases
14 January 2021
The Santa Fe Opera is pleased to announce digital Consider the Source Conversations and Seminars beginning January 19 and running through May 20, 2021. Led by Dr. Jennifer Rhodes, the new series is based on the literary source materials behind the 2021 Festival Season. Participants will explore how the text source for each opera has influenced that production’s creation, including its concept, designs, role interpretations and more. Guests will include mezzo-soprano Megan Marino, director and designer Netia Jones, baritone Etienne Dupuis, soprano Nicole Car, composer John Corigliano and librettist Mark Adamo...
2 December 2020
The Santa Fe Opera Presents Digital Winter Concert "Songs of the Season" on Sunday, December 6
The Santa Fe Opera will present Songs of the Season on Sunday, December 6 at 3:00 pm MT. A digital adaptation of the company’s annual winter tour across the Southwest region, the online concert features former apprentice singers Joshua Dennis (tenor) and Briana Elyse Hunter (mezzo-soprano), Santa Fe Opera Head of Music Staff Robert Tweten (piano) and the Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera. The presentation was filmed on location at historic churches across northern New Mexico including Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, Old San Ysidro Church and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, as well as at the Santa Fe Opera...
21 October 2020
The Santa Fe Opera Sets the Stage for a Bold New Season in 2021
The Santa Fe Opera’s General Director Robert K. Meya announced today the company’s exciting return to the stage in 2021 with the repertory, principal singers, conductors, directors and designers scheduled for its 64th Season...
2 October 2020
The Santa Fe Opera Presents an Online Screening of "Is this America?"
On Friday, October 23 at 6:00 pm MT the Santa Fe Opera and Center for Contemporary Arts will present a special online screening of Is This America?, a workshop of the new, one-act opera This Little Light of Mine that portrays key events in the life of voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. A Black woman of humble origins, she spoke truth to power and her tireless efforts culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965...
24 August 2020
On Friday, August 28 at 7 pm MT the Santa Fe Opera, Fort Worth Opera and Center for Contemporary Arts will present a special online screening of UnShakeable, an opera composed by conductor and Fort Worth Opera Artistic Director Joseph Illick with a libretto by Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Director of Community Engagement for the Santa Fe Opera. UnShakeable premiered in 2016 with sold-out performances and has since enjoyed several encore presentations across New Mexico. The piece is sung in English and runs in one act, 45 minutes in length.
26 June 2020
The Santa Fe Opera announces Songs from the Santa Fe Opera, a digital performance series celebrating the opening nights of the five originally-scheduled operas that were to comprise the 2020 Summer Festival Season. Susan Graham, acclaimed mezzo-soprano and Santa Fe Opera audience favorite, hosts the Opening Night of the season and a celebration of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville from the stage of the Santa Fe Opera on Friday, July 3, followed by other opera luminaries in later presentations.
11 May 2020
The Santa Fe Opera Announces the Cancellation of its 2020 Season Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
General Director Robert K. Meya today announced the cancellation of the Santa Fe Opera’s 2020 Season scheduled to open on July 3 and run through August 29. The cancellation is a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of nonessential businesses, constraints on public gatherings and restriction of both domestic and international travel. These precautions, taken to protect public health and safety, have impacted the opera’s ability to fully prepare and safely gather for its 64th Festival Season.
24 October 2019
On Saturday, October 26, the Santa Fe Opera will present the world premiere of Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun by Grammy-winning composer Augusta Read Thomas and Orpheus Prize-winning librettist Leslie Dunton-Downer. The piece is the first of four new works commissioned by the Opera For All Voices: Stories of Our Time initiative. The Santa Fe Opera is proud to be the lead producer...
11 October 2019
The Santa Fe Opera Reports on the "State of the Opera" for 2019 Season
Running from June 28 to August 24, the 2019 Season presented five operas in 36 performances, a special Santa Fe Opera debut concert by celebrated American soprano Renée Fleming with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra led by Music Director Harry Bicket and two Apprentice Scenes performances. The 63rd Season, the first led by General Director Robert K. Meya, Artistic Director Alexander Neef and Music Director Harry Bicket, explored classic works of the repertory as well as operas new to the Santa Fe Opera and the world’s stage...
24 September 2019
The Santa Fe Opera Awards 27 Outstanding Apprentices for 2019 Season
The Santa Fe Opera recently announced the recipients of its annual Outstanding Apprentice Awards. Each season, talented young singers and technicians take part in the Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Programs, where they receive intensive training and play critical roles in the creation, both on stage and off, of the season’s five mainstage productions. Their work culminates in two nights of fully staged and costumed Apprentice Scenes, created and performed solely by the apprentices. Of this season's 78 apprentice technicians and 42 apprentice singers, 27 won cash rewards, honoring their exceptional talent and hard work...
11 September 2019
The Santa Fe Opera Announces Five New Appointments to the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra
The Santa Fe Opera is delighted to announce the appointment of five musicians joining the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra in the 2020 Season. The appointments are the result of highly competitive auditions which occurred on-site in August 2019...
27 July 2019
The Santa Fe Opera presents the world premiere of fairy-tale opera "The Thirteenth Child" on July 27
On Saturday, July 27, the Santa Fe Opera will add a new work to the operatic canon with its world premiere of The Thirteenth Child by Danish composer Poul Ruders and American librettists Becky and David Starobin. The production is a co-commission and co-production with the Odense Symphony Orchestra and marks the Santa Fe Opera’s sixteenth world premiere...
24 July 2019
Santa Fe Opera Artistic Director Alexander Neef will be the next Director of Paris National Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is delighted to share news of the appointment of Artistic Director Alexander Neef as the next General Director of Paris National Opera commencing in late 2021. Neef has served as the Santa Fe Opera’s Artistic Director Designate since February 9, 2018 and as Artistic Director since October 1, 2018...
19 July 2019
"Jenůfa" receives its Santa Fe Opera premiere on July 20
On Saturday, July 20, the Santa Fe Opera will introduce Leoš Janáček’s Jenůfa to audiences for the first time in the company’s 63 year history. A co-production between Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera and the English National Opera, David Alden’s production of Jenůfa, now adapted to the Santa Fe Opera’s stage, updates the mis-en-scène from an isolated, tight-knit community in 19th-century Moravia to an impoverished industrial section of Soviet-era Czechoslovakia.
12 July 2019
The Santa Fe Opera presents a new production of Mozart’s 'Così fan tutte' beginning July 13
On Saturday, July 13, the Santa Fe Opera will present Mozart’s Così fan tutte in a new production directed by R. B. Schlather (making his company debut) and conducted by Music Director Harry Bicket. “For years Così was dismissed as a minor Mozart work, but for me it is a masterpiece,” writes Bicket. “The poignancy of Mozart’s own autobiographical connection with the opera (he married the sister of the woman he was in love with), coupled with some of the most profound and touching music he ever wrote, makes it a timeless exploration of how we learn to love (and lose) each other.”
28 June 2019
The Santa Fe Opera Commences 63rd Season on June 28 & 29 with 'La Bohème' and 'The Pearl Fishers'
This year’s festival runs from June 28 to August 24 and will present five operas in 36 performances, a special Santa Fe Opera debut concert by celebrated American soprano Renée Fleming with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra led by Music Director Harry Bicket, and two Apprentice Scenes performances...
24 June 2019
The Santa Fe Opera is delighted to announce the members of its 2019 Season Apprentice Program for Theater Technicians. This season’s program is comprised of technicians, designers and craftspeople from across New Mexico, the wider United States, South America, England and China. The 78 individuals were selected from a pool of more than 900 applicants through a competitive screening and interview process by the Opera’s Production Department Heads...
10 June 2019
The Santa Fe Opera announces a casting update for 'La bohème' opening June 28
The Santa Fe Opera announces a casting update for La bohème, which opens the season on Friday, June 28. Nicaraguan-American soprano Gabriella Reyes will assume the role of Musetta, replacing Kirsten MacKinnon, who has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons...
21 May 2019
The Santa Fe Opera Announces 42 Members of the 2019 Season Apprentice Program for Singers
The Santa Fe Opera is delighted to announce the members of its 2019 Season Apprentice Program for Singers. This season’s program is comprised of singers from across the United States, Canada and South Korea. The 42 singers, selected by Gayletha Nichols, Director of the Program, and Robert Tweten, Head of Music Staff, rose to the top from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants through a competitive pre-screening and audition process.
8 May 2019
Firsts and Favorites in 2020 at The Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera’s General Director Robert K. Meya today announced repertory and casting for the company’s exciting 64th Season in 2020. On the panel joining Meya for the announcement were the President of the Board of Directors Susan G. Marineau, Andrea Fellows Walters, Director of Community Engagement, and Cori Ellison, the company’s first, recently appointed Dramaturg...
8 May 2019
The Santa Fe Opera Presents Three World Premieres
General Director Robert K. Meya today announced two new world premiere operas commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera. Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly will open on August 1, 2020. John Corigliano and Mark Adamo’s The Lord of Cries will debut in the 2021 Season. This announcement rounds out a trio of new works commissioned by the Santa Fe Opera, with the upcoming world premiere of Poul Ruders and Becky and David Starobin’s The Thirteenth Child which Meya announced in May 2018...
8 May 2019
The Santa Fe Opera's 2019 Season Poster Unveiled, Features Artwork by Georgia O'Keeffe
The Santa Fe Opera’s 2019 Season poster was unveiled today by General Director Robert K. Meya. The 63rd Festival Season poster features The Beyond, a minimalist landscape oil painting by renowned artist and long-time New Mexico resident Georgia O’Keeffe...
8 May 2019
The Santa Fe Opera’s new Electronic Libretto System launches June 28, 2019
On May 8, 2019 Susan G. Marineau, President of the Board of Directors of the Santa Fe Opera announced that on Opening Night of the 2019 Season, a new generation of seatback titles will debut in the Crosby Theatre. The new Electronic Libretto System (ELS) represents the second generation of seatback title technology and will replace the prior system, which was installed by Figaro Systems in 1999.
8 May 2019
Latest Updates to The Santa Fe Opera's 2019 Season
The Santa Fe Opera’s General Director Robert K. Meya today announced casting updates for the upcoming 2019 Season opening on June 28, 2019...
8 May 2019
Opera For All Voices 2019 Updates
The Santa Fe Opera’s Director of Community Engagement Andrea Fellows Walters today announced the latest updates for the Opera For All Voices: Stories of Our Time initiative. Opera for All Voices (OFAV) is a consortium of North American opera companies committed to co-commissioning and co-producing new operatic works for audiences of all ages that bear the same artistic integrity and depth of storytelling as mainstage works. The consortium shares a commitment to social impact and the representation of diverse voices through the development of new and important works.
16 April 2019
The Santa Fe Opera's Annual Spring Tour presents "Unshakeable" throughout April & May
The Santa Fe Opera presents UnShakeable, a light-hearted opera composed by Joseph Illick with libretto by Andrea Fellows Walters. Follow Meridian and Wyatt on a star-crossed journey as they find their way back to each other. Admission is free and all are welcome. Seating is on a first-come-first-served basis. Doors open a half hour before each performance. UnShakeable is sung in English and will run in one act, 45 minutes in length.
11 February 2019
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs Wins GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording
The Santa Fe Opera's World Premiere of Mason Bates and Mark Campbell's opera, recorded live on the PENTATONE label, named Best Opera Recording at the 61st GRAMMY® Awards
7 December 2018
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs Nominated in Four Categories of the 61st GRAMMY® Awards
The Santa Fe Opera’s World Premiere of Mason Bates and Mark Campbell’s opera, recorded on the PENTATONE label, has been nominated for Best Engineered Album, Classical; Producer of the Year, Classical; Best Opera Recording; and Best Contemporary Classical Composition
6 November 2018
Leadership Team Updates Announced at The Santa Fe Opera
Dramaturg, Director of Development, and Chief Financial Officer have been appointed...
4 October 2018
The Santa Fe Opera's 2018 Season in Review
The Santa Fe Opera reports record-breaking ticket sales and fundraising for Charles MacKay’s final season as General Director
4 October 2018
Updates to The Santa Fe Opera’s 2019 Season
The Santa Fe Opera announces cast and creative team updates to its 2019 Season...
27 July 2018
Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos Opens July 28
A new production comes to the Santa Fe Opera Stage
21 July 2018
Rossini’s The Italian Girl in Algiers Opens July 21
Edward Hastings’ 2002 Storybook Production Returns to Santa Fe
7 July 2018
John Adams’ and Peter Sellars’ Doctor Atomic Opens July 14
A new production of Doctor Atomic by Peter Sellars premieres in Santa Fe
6 July 2018
Tech and the West Events Schedule for Summer 2018
The final year of exhibits, concerts, and symposia in association with Los Alamos Historical Society, The New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe Institute, the School for Advanced research, the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, and The Santa Fe Opera
21 June 2018
Leonard Bernstein's Candide Opens June 29
Santa Fe Opera’s 62nd Season kicks off with a company premiere
11 May 2018
Santa Fe Opera announces the latest updates and cast changes to its 2018 Season which includes Bernstein's Candide, Adams and Sellars' Doctor Atomic, Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers, and Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.
9 May 2018
Santa Fe Opera's 2019 Season Announcement
Santa Fe Opera’s General Director Charles MacKay and General Director Designate Robert Meya announced today the repertory, principal singers, conductors, directors, and designers for the company’s 63rd season in 2019...
9 May 2018
The esteemed Santa Fe artist behind the festival season posters in 2012-2015, Dan Namingha creates another visual landscape for the Opera’s 62nd season. This year he presents Autumn at Otowi Pass.
9 May 2018
Opera for All Voices 2018 updates
An initiative bringing stories with purpose to all audiences. Commissioned by a consortium of companies led by Santa Fe Opera in association with San Francisco Opera.
15 March 2018
Opera Storytellers Summer Camp 2018
Write, compose, sing, act, dance, design, perform, and play with Santa Fe Opera
9 February 2018
Santa Fe Opera Names Robert K. Meya General Director
Robert K. Meya will succeed Charles MacKay as General Director following the 2018 season.
Meya engages Canadian Opera Company’s General Director Alexander Neef as Santa Fe Opera’s first Artistic Director, and appoints Chief Conductor Harry Bicket as the Company’s Music Director.
17 November 2017
Santa Fe Opera Presents Annual Winter Tour
Santa Fe Opera artists perform operas and carols in a series of free concerts throughout New Mexico
9 November 2017
This December Santa Fe Opera presents the return of Shoes for the Santo Niño, an opera for all ages, with performances in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
17 October 2017
Santa Fe Opera Celebrates National Opera Week with Pop-up Performances in Santa Fe and Albuquerque
26 September 2017
Gayletha Nichols Named Director Designate of Apprentice Program for Singers at Santa Fe Opera
Gayletha Nichols, a member of the teaching staff during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, will become Director of the Apprentice Program for Singers at Santa Fe Opera on May 28, 2018
11 August 2017
Santa Fe Opera’s Board of Directors Plans for Leadership Transition
General Director Charles MacKay has asked the Board to plan for a transition in leadership following the 2018 season
8 August 2017
Santa Fe Opera Presents Shoes for the Santo Niño
An Opera for All Ages & Audition Call for Youth Entering 4th-12th Grades
26 July 2017
Handel’s Baroque Masterpiece is the Final Production in Santa Fe Opera’s 61st Season
22 July 2017
Added Performance of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Added Performance Announced for Santa Fe Opera’s World Premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which opens July 22, 2017
13 July 2017
Commercial Recording Announced for Santa Fe Opera’s World Premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs performances will be recorded live for commercial release on PENTATONE
13 July 2017
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs Premieres July 22
The world premiere of the season's most highly-anticipated production
13 July 2017
A two-year program of exhibits, concerts, and symposia in association with Los Alamos Historical Society, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe Institute, The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, and Santa Fe Opera
19 June 2017
The Golden Cockerel Opens July 15
The company premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely performed Russian tale
9 June 2017
Lucia di Lammermoor Opens July 1
Lucia di Lammermoor is Donizetti’s quintessential bel canto masterpiece.
30 May 2017
Santa Fe Opera’s 61st season kicks off on June 30 with a rollicking new production.
9 May 2017
Santa Fe Opera's 2018 Season Announcement
Bernstein's Candide, Adams and Sellars' Doctor Atomic, Puccini's Madame Butterfly, Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers, and Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.
9 May 2017
A new initiative bringing stories with purpose to all audiences. Commissioned by a consortium of companies led by Santa Fe Opera in association with San Francisco Opera.
9 May 2017
Santa Fe Artist Gustave Baumann presents the 61st season poster.
9 May 2017
Santa Fe Opera and The Lensic Present Justice at the Opera with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg brings this singular event to Santa Fe at The Lensic Performing Arts Center on August 25, 2017
9 May 2017
Santa Fe Opera Announces Updates to its 2017 Season
Santa Fe Opera announces updates to the company’s 61st season.
1 March 2017
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs Opens July 22
An electro-acoustic score and technologically innovative production bring the Steve Jobs story to the opera stage
7 April 2017
Santa Fe Opera Presents Annual Spring Tour
Santa Fe Opera artists perform Avastar in a series of free concerts throughout New Mexico
1 March 2017
Works & Process at the Guggenheim Presents Santa Fe Opera: The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
The world premiere opera by Mason Bates and Mark Campbell receives an exclusive preview April 9 and 10, 2017 at the Guggenheim
6 December 2016
Cold Mountain nominated for two categories of the 59th GRAMMY Awards
Santa Fe Opera’s World Premiere of Cold Mountain nominated for two categories of the 59th GRAMMY® Awards
17 November 2016
Santa Fe Opera 2016 Season in Review
Santa Fe Opera reports strong ticket sales and fund raising for its 60th anniversary season, the launch of a new website, and an extension to its Chief Conductor’s contract until 2020
17 October 2016
Outstanding Apprentice Awards Announced at Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera recently announced the recipients of its annual Outstanding Apprentice Awards
21 September 2016
UnShakeable Encore Presentation
By popular demand this opera for all ages returns to The Scottish Rite Masonic Center
29 July 2016
Barber’s Vanessa Opens July 30
The rarely performed gothic tale comes to Santa Fe in a film noir-inspired production
26 July 2016
Richard Strauss’ Capriccio Opens July 23
The composer’s last opera returns to Santa Fe in a new production
26 July 2016
Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette Opens July 16
Shakespeare’s tragic love story comes to Santa Fe in a new production
29 June 2016
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni Opens July 2
The legendary dramma giocoso returns to the Santa Fe Opera stage in a new production
29 June 2016
Giacomo Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West Opens July 1
Santa Fe Opera’s 60th Anniversary Season opens with an Olivier Award-winning co-production with English National Opera
27 April 2016
Santa Fe Opera Announces its 2017 Season
Johann Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel, Handel’s Alcina, and Mason Bates/Mark Campbell's The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
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