You're invited to join Opera Saratoga for our second Sip & Sing, held at a favorite Saratoga watering hole with delicious snacks. Location and ticket info TBA!

Celebrate the holidays with the original RENT — a story of young artists in love, from first blush to dying breath. 

This holiday season, Opera Saratoga invites you to be swept away by the romance, laughter, and heartbreak of Puccini’s timeless masterpiece, “La bohème.” In this special staged concert, the Skidmore Chorus and members of the Excelsior Vocal Ensemble joins forces with the most exciting rising stars from the Juilliard School and the Metropolitan Opera to bring to life the unforgettable arias, soaring ensembles, and rich choral moments that have enchanted audiences for generations. Single tickets available through Proctors starting at noon on Sept 23.  

Set in the bustling streets and candlelit garrets of 19th-century Paris, “La bohème” follows a band of spirited young artists as they navigate friendship, love, and the fleeting beauty of youth. At the heart of the story is the tender romance between the poet Rodolfo and the delicate seamstress Mimì—a love as radiant as it is fragile. Their journey unfolds from a snowy Christmas Eve to the glow of Paris in spring, capturing the joys and sorrows of life with music that will lift your heart and stir your soul.

If the story sounds familiar, it may be because “La bohème” was the direct inspiration for Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award–winning musical “RENT”—proving that the passions, dreams, and struggles of young artists are as powerful today as they were over a century ago.

The cast includes Kayla Stein(The Juilliard School, Aspen Opera) as Mimì, Daniel O’Hearn (Alum of the Lindemann Program, Metropolitan Opera) as Rodolfo, Gregory Feldmann (Opernhaus Zürich) as Marcello , Shelén Hughes (Oper Frankfurt) as Musetta, Joseph Parrish (Salzburg Festspiele) as Schaunard,  Carl Dupont (Opera Saratoga alum) as Colline and Andrew Burger (Excelsior Vocal Ensemble) as Alcindoro. 

This festive concert will be music directed and accompanied on piano by Adam Nielsen and semi-staged by Opera Saratoga’s General and Artistic Director, Mary Birnbaum. The Skidmore Chorus, conducted by Floydd Ricketts and joined by members of the Excelsior Vocal Ensemble (Artistic Director Andrew Burger), rounds out the evening’s radiant sound.

When: 

Friday, December 5, 7pm

Where: 

Universal Preservation Hall 

25 Washington Street, Saratoga Springs 12866

Ticket information: 

Single tickets are available to the public on Sept 23. For tickets visit Opera Saratoga Presents: La bohème - Universal Preservation Hall

Opera Saratoga invites all members of the community to our Annual Meeting. This meeting also features Ana Karneza!

The meeting is free and open to the public.

All are welcome to attend.

Please email admin@operasaratoga.org to register in advance.

You're invited to join Opera Saratoga for our second Sip & Sing, held at a favorite Saratoga watering hole with delicious snacks. Location and ticket info TBA!

You're invited to join Opera Saratoga for our second Sip & Sing, held at a favorite Saratoga watering hole with delicious snacks. Location and ticket info TBA!

You're invited to join Opera Saratoga for our second Sip & Sing, held at a favorite Saratoga watering hole with delicious snacks. Location and ticket info TBA!

You're invited to join Opera Saratoga for our second Sip & Sing, held at a favorite Saratoga watering hole with delicious snacks. Location and ticket info TBA!

FESTIVAL ARTIST PORTRAIT CONCERT (Saratoga Arts). $20 general admission tickets.

A series of hour-long concerts at Saratoga Arts featuring 20 rising opera stars singing the music that made them want to be singers. Come peek behind the music and learn what inspired the young artists of Opera Saratoga. 

You're invited to join Opera Saratoga for our annual Gala. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the date.

FESTIVAL ARTIST PORTRAIT CONCERT (Saratoga Arts). $20 general admission tickets.

A series of hour-long concerts at Saratoga Arts featuring 20 rising opera stars singing the music that made them want to be singers. Come peek behind the music and learn what inspired the young artists of Opera Saratoga. 

For tickets visit: atuph.org

Opera Saratoga and the Glimmerglass Festival 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 & General Director of the Glimmerglass Festival and feature Ana Karneža, who won the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya competition in 2024. The performance will be directed by Mary Birnbaum in collaboration with 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 to venues all over the state including two performances at Universal Preservation Hall on May 28 & 30 at 7:00pm.

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 State. 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."

For tickets visit: atuph.org

Opera Saratoga and the Glimmerglass Festival 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 & General Director of the Glimmerglass Festival and feature Ana Karneža, who won the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya competition in 2024. The performance will be directed by Mary Birnbaum in collaboration with 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 to venues all over the state including two performances at Universal Preservation Hall on May 28 & 30 at 7:00pm.

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 State. 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."

Opera Saratoga Presents: Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Mansion of Saratoga

--A perennial favorite concert. Opera Saratoga partners with the Mansion of Saratoga for two performances of favorite hits by Rodgers, Hammerstein and their friends! The Festival Artists sing hits from Carousel, Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, South Pacific and more while the Mansion serves a delicious (included) brunch and dinner to guests seated at tables

Opera Saratoga Presents: Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Mansion of Saratoga

--A perennial favorite concert. Opera Saratoga partners with the Mansion of Saratoga for two performances of favorite hits by Rodgers, Hammerstein and their friends! The Festival Artists sing hits from Carousel, Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, South Pacific and more while the Mansion serves a delicious (included) brunch and dinner to guests seated at tables

FESTIVAL ARTIST PORTRAIT CONCERT (Saratoga Arts). $20 general admission tickets.

A series of hour-long concerts at Saratoga Arts featuring 20 rising opera stars singing the music that made them want to be singers. Come peek behind the music and learn what inspired the young artists of Opera Saratoga. 

FESTIVAL ARTIST PORTRAIT CONCERT (Saratoga Arts). $20 general admission tickets.

A series of hour-long concerts at Saratoga Arts featuring 20 rising opera stars singing the music that made them want to be singers. Come peek behind the music and learn what inspired the young artists of Opera Saratoga. 

Opera Saratoga Presents: Family Shows

-- Free for children, this 45-minute show involves music from My Fair Lady & The Elixir of Love in a new plot devised by Opera Saratoga's Festival Artists. A joyful, delightful, interactive introduction to the world of opera with a performer meet & greet and autograph/photo session to follow! Join us beforehand in the lobby for free interactive arts and crafts by the Children's Museum at Saratoga, the Albany Institute of History & Art, and free tea from Saratoga Tea & Honey.

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 theater, with 10 singing actors playing all the roles and two pianists forming the orchestra.Directed by Mary 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: June 20 at 7:00pm, 24 at 7:00pm, 26 at 7:00pm, & 28 at 2:00pm. Sung in English.

Tickets atuph.org

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 Mary 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: June 21 at 2:00pm, 23 at 7:00pm, 25 at 7:00pm, & 27 at 7:00pm. In Italian, with English supertitles.

Tickets atuph.org

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: June 21 at 7:00pm & 26 at 2:00pm. Sung in English.

Tickets atuph.org - $25 general admission tickets

Opera Saratoga Presents: Family Shows

-- Free for children, this 45-minute show involves music from My Fair Lady & The Elixir of Love in a new plot devised by Opera Saratoga's Festival Artists. A joyful, delightful, interactive introduction to the world of opera with a performer meet & greet and autograph/photo session to follow! Join us beforehand in the lobby for free interactive arts and crafts by the Children's Museum at Saratoga, the Albany Institute of History & Art, and free tea from Saratoga Tea & Honey.

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 Mary 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: June 21 at 2:00pm, 23 at 7:00pm, 25 at 7:00pm, & 27 at 7:00pm. In Italian, with English supertitles.

Tickets atuph.org

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 theater, with 10 singing actors playing all the roles and two pianists forming the orchestra.Directed by Mary 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: June 20 at 7:00pm, 24 at 7:00pm, 26 at 7:00pm, & 28 at 2:00pm. Sung in English.

Tickets atuph.org

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 Mary 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: June 21 at 2:00pm, 23 at 7:00pm, 25 at 7:00pm, & 27 at 7:00pm. In Italian, with English supertitles.

Tickets atuph.org

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: June 21 at 7:00pm & 26 at 2:00pm. Sung in English.

Tickets atuph.org - $25 general admission tickets

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 theater, with 10 singing actors playing all the roles and two pianists forming the orchestra.Directed by Mary 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: June 20 at 7:00pm, 24 at 7:00pm, 26 at 7:00pm, & 28 at 2:00pm. Sung in English.

Tickets atuph.org

Opera Saratoga Presents: Capital Region Composers Concert

-- A concert featuring the work of the Capital Region's finest composers. An expansion of Opera Saratoga's work with artists from the region that began last year with the "Saratoga Sing-In", this concert will contain beautiful arias from works by storied, important composers with strong ties to the Capital Region. 

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 Mary 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: June 21 at 2:00pm, 23 at 7:00pm, 25 at 7:00pm, & 27 at 7:00pm. In Italian, with English supertitles.

Tickets atuph.org

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 theater, with 10 singing actors playing all the roles and two pianists forming the orchestra.Directed by Mary 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: June 20 at 7:00pm, 24 at 7:00pm, 26 at 7:00pm, & 28 at 2:00pm. Sung in English.

Tickets atuph.org