For its 2026 season, Chautauqua Opera Company deepens its commitment to developing new operas while bringing fully staged productions to Chautauqua Institution’s Amphitheater.   

The company’s mainstage production will be an eclectic triple-bill of operas which have a historic connection to Chautauqua: Richard Wargo’s The Music Shop, Kamala Sankaram and Jerre Dye’s A.E. Reverie, and the world premiere of Jeremy Gill and Jerre Dye’s Ida by Lamplight. In the weeks surrounding this production, the company will conduct workshops of three new operas, ranging from chamber operas to large-scale pieces. In these workshops, Chautauqua Opera Company’s 16 Young Artists will collaborate with celebrated composers, librettists and singers, and Chautauqua audiences will have the exclusive opportunity to experience these new operas in their developmental stages.  

The first two weeks of the 2026 season are dedicated to piano vocal workshops of Mark Adamo’s Sarah in the Theatre, commissioned by Odyssey Opera, and Danika Lorèn and Royce Vavrek’s Anne of Green Gables, in partnership with Against the Grain Theatre, based on the beloved series of novels by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The workshops will conclude with a public presentation of excerpts from each new work, followed by a conversation with the creators. Lorèn will remain in residence throughout the remainder of the season, and a presentation of 60 minutes of music from Anne of Green Gables will be given. The final ten days of the company’s season will be dedicated to an orchestral workshop of Herschel Garfein’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, based on the play by the late Tom Stoppard. Excerpts from the opera will be presented on the stage of Norton Hall with members of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra on August 7, 2026.  The Music Shop, A.E. Reverie, Ida by Lamplight, and all three workshops will be conducted by general and artistic director Steven Osgood. 

“The 2026 season, the second of Chautauqua Opera Company’s model of new work workshops alongside a full production, anchors our company’s role collaborating with creators and offering formative performing opportunities for our young artists, “stated Osgood. “Having Ned Canty return as stage director assures that the broad comedy of The Music Shop will be carefully honed, while the historic connections of A.E. Reverie and Ida by Lamplight will resonate for Chautauquans young and old. Through our workshops we will host two prolific composer/librettists — Mark Adamo, whose Little Women is now a staple of contemporary opera, and Herschel Garfein, whose opera with composer Robert Aldridge  Elmer Gantry won two Grammy awards. Having the multi-disciplinary creator and performer Danika Lorèn  in residence with our company for six weeks will provide a unique immersion into the creative process for our young artists and audience alike.  I continue to be exceedingly grateful for our partnership with the Chautauqua Opera Guild, whose continuing philanthropy is helping sustain opera production at Chautauqua.”   

THE MUSIC SHOP / A.E. REVERIE / IDA BY LAMPLIGHT 

Three operas light up the Amphitheater stage on July 22, bringing both side-splitting laughter and heart-melting nostalgia. In Richard Wargo’s zany one-act The Music Shop (last seen at Chautauqua where it premiered in 1993) Dmitri and Masha try to help the hapless Ivan remember the title of the song his wife must sing at a royal wedding, while visions of her haunt and strike fear in him. This four-character, 60-minute farce promises a lively romp in the Amphitheater! Two installments from The Summer Place round out the evening. A.E. Reverie, which received its world premiere at Chautauqua in 2024, reflects on Amelia Earhart’s 1929 lecture at the Amphitheater, and how it inspired another young woman’s dream of flight. To close out the evening, the world premiere of Ida by Lamplight takes us back to the Chautauqua Literary and Science Circle’s early years, celebrating Ida Tarbell and Kate Kimball, whose pioneering work galvanized Chautauqua Institution’s mission. Commissioned by Chautauqua Opera Company, Ida by Lamplight celebrates the 150^th anniversary of The Chautauquan Daily in 2026. Stage Director Ned Canty (The Mikado, Don Giovanni, and Love and Longing by the Lake) brings everything to life in a celebration of Chautauqua which you will not want to miss. 

Performance Date: Jul. 22 in Chautauqua’s Amphitheater 
The Music Shop: music and libretto by Richard Wargo 
A.E. Reverie: music by Kamala Sankaram, libretto by Jerre Dye 
Ida by Lamplight (World Premiere): music by Jeremy Gill, libretto by Jerre Dye 
Stage Director: Ned Canty 
Conductor: Steven Osgood 

NEW OPERA AT CHAUTAUQUA 

The 2026 season marks the second year of Chautauqua Opera Company’s deep investment in the future of operatic repertoire and the singers whose careers will increasingly feature new works. Over the company’s six-week season, Chautauqua Opera Company will hold developmental workshops of three new operas, including a new adaption of a beloved novel, an operatic adaptation of a masterpiece of 20^th century theater, and a new dreamlike biography which fantasizes on the art and career of an American iconoclast. The company’s 16 Young Artists will collaborate with renowned composers and librettists, giving the creators their first opportunities to see and hear their characters, stories and music come to life. Chautauqua audiences will thrill to know that they are among the first to preview these works that will move on to prestigious premiere productions in coming seasons. 

SARAH IN THE THEATRE 

Piano/Vocal Workshop Presentation 

Commissioned by Odyssey Opera – Gil Rose, Artistic Director 

Public Presentation Dates: Jul. 10 at Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall 
Composer & Librettist: Mark Adamo  
Conductor: Steven Osgood 

Commissioned by Odyssey Opera, Mark Adamo’s Sarah in the Theatre is a fantasy on the life and work of pioneering opera conductor, stage director and impresario Sarah Caldwell. Chautauqua Opera Company’s 16 young artists will sing all principal and ensemble roles in the first piano/vocal workshop of the opera’s second act. Following a reading of the complete act, the two-week workshop will conclude with a public presentation of excerpts and conversation with the composer/librettist. The Chautauqua audience, which saw Adamo’s first opera Little Women in 2002, will have a special window into his work dramatizing the career of a true American trailblazer.   

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES 

Piano/Vocal Workshop Presentation 

In partnership with Against the Grain Theatre – Royce Vavrek, Artistic Director 

Public Presentation Dates: Jul. 10 at Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall & Aug. 6 at Fletcher Hall 
Composer: Danika Lorèn  
Librettist: Royce Vavrek 
Based on the novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery 
Conductor: Steven Osgood 

Chautauqua Opera Company will host the first workshops of a new adaptation of Anne of Green Gables by composer Danika Lorèn and librettist Royce Vavrek (Lincoln in the Bardo). In this bold new reimagining, a fictional reality competition sets out from coast to coast to find the Canadian who most embodies the spirit of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s indelible heroine, Anne Shirley. With Lorèn in residence for the full six-week season, Chautauqua Opera Company’s young artists will collaborate closely on the creation of the first 60 minutes of new music being written for their specific voices. The season will include two public presentations of new music with piano accompaniment, giving Chautauqua audiences a unique opportunity to watch the development of this inventive work. 

ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD    

Workshop Presentation with Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra 

Composer & Librettist: Herschel Garfein 
Based on the play by Tom Stoppard 
Conductor: Steven Osgood 
Rosencrantz: Keith Phares 

In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Grammy award-winning composer and librettist Herschel Garfein has created the first ever operatic adaptation of a play by Tom Stoppard. Chautauqua Opera Company’s young artists will be joined by internationally heralded baritone Keith Phares and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra for a ten-day workshop of the complete opera, which concludes with a public presentation of excerpts and panel discussion with Garfein and Phares. Reviewing excerpts presented at Fort Worth Opera’s Frontiers Festival the Wall Street Journal said, “composer-librettist Herschel Garfein set the diamond-bright dialogue of the Tom Stoppard play with clarity and wit, heightening the comedy through skillful ensemble writing and characterization.”   

CHAUTAUQUA OPERA CONSERVATORY 

This summer, the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory will present two major productions featuring outstanding students from around the world. 

Mozart’s timeless masterpiece Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) will take the stage in Norton Hall in a new production that captures the work’s signature blend of magic, humor, and human insight. Sung in German with English dialogue, the performance will showcase the next generation of operatic talent in one of the repertoire’s most beloved classics. 

The season also highlights a vibrant French double bill presented in collaboration with the Music School Festival Orchestra under the baton of MSFO Music Director Timothy Muffitt. Debussy’s lyrical L’Enfant Prodigue (The Prodigal Son) will be realized in collaboration with the Chautauqua School of Dance, followed by Poulenc’s imaginative and delightfully irreverent Les Mamelles de Tirésias. Together, these works promise audiences a vibrant evening of contrasting yet complementary French repertoire. 

“I am thrilled about the dynamic programming we are presenting this season and the remarkable singers joining us,” said Director, Jonathan Beyer. “The Magic Flute offers endless possibilities for discovery, and our French double bill showcases the expressive range and curiosity of this year’s cohort. It is a privilege to collaborate with Stephen Hargreaves, Nathan Troup, Emma Griffin, Timothy Muffitt, Sasha Janes, and all our partners across the Institution. The energy, talent, and imagination these artists bring to our stages will no doubt make this an inspiring summer at the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory.” 

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE 

Performance Dates: July 18 & 21 at Norton Hall 
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  
Librettist: Original text by Emanuel Schickaneder, English dialogue translation by Alice Goodman 
Stage Director: Nathan Troup 
Conductor:  Stephen Hargreaves 

In Mozart’s comic opera The Magic Flute, Prince Tamino embarks on a journey to rescue Pamina, only to discover that the true battle isn’t between people, but between ignorance and understanding. Guided by elements both mystical and spiritual — and joined by the ever-hopeful, always-hungry, bird-catching Papageno as their trusty sidekick — Tamino and Pamina undergo trials of courage, integrity, and resilience. As the Queen of the Night spreads fear and misinformation, the wise Sarastro champions reason, compassion, and community. In a world that often feels divided by noise and uncertainty, The Magic Flute resonates as a timeless and timely tale of seeking truth, choosing empathy over fear, and finding harmony through connection. 

Sung in German (with English supertitles) and spoken English dialogue. 

L’Enfant Prodigue & Les Mamelles de Tiresias 

Performance Date: July 27 at Chautauqua’s Amphitheater  
Music by: Claude Debussy & Francis Poulenc 
Librettist: Édouard Guinand & Guillaume Apollinaire 
Stage Director: Emma Griffin 
Conductor: Timothy Muffitt 

Two masters of French music share the stage in a sparkling double bill. Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias (1945) bursts with surreal satire, flipping gender norms topsy-turvy in a wildly imaginative romp of music and mischief. It’s paired with Claude Debussy’s luminous early masterpiece L’enfant prodigue (1884), a one-act cantata suffused with longing, redemption, and sumptuous lyricism. Together, these works deliver an evening of operatic drama and delight.    

Please visit opera.chq.org for more information about the company and about Chautauqua Opera’s 2026 Season. Email Jill McCormick, Director of Communications, for press inquiries or questions at jillmccormick@chq.org. 

Additional programming to be announced. 

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA OPERA COMPANY 
Founded in 1929, Chautauqua Opera Company is North America’s fourth-oldest opera company. Beginning with the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the company refocused its vision toward incubating new American works as well as continuing to provide formative coaching and performance experiences for young artists. Chautauqua Opera Company offers many operatic events, including concerts with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, art song recitals, opera for young audiences, and the playful Opera Invasion series. Its productions feature the company’s Young Artists who make up the core of the company each season, while internationally recognized guest singers join workshop presentations to sing roles which have been written specifically for them.  

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA OPERA CONSERVATORY  
Chautauqua Opera Conservatory provides an intensive educational experience and the highest caliber of training for some of the most promising young singers on their way to professional careers. Under the leadership of Director, Jonathan Beyer, the Conservatory provides vocal instruction, performance opportunities, and professional development to a cohort of 26 students selected through a competitive audition and admissions process.  The Conservatory produces two operas each summer, one with the Music School Festival Orchestra in the historic Amphitheater and one in the majestic Norton Hall. Building on the legacy of the late Marlena Malas, who ran the program for 44 years, Chautauqua Opera Conservatory aims to foster the next generation of vocal talent through a curriculum that centers on committed artistic excellence and inclusion. 

###