In A Grove

composed by
Chris Cerrone
libretto by
Stephanie Fleischmann

Site Specific Installation!

May 28, 29
Running Time: 1h
Tickets start at $40

Ferndell Pavillion
Saratoga Spa State Park

Show Dates

  • May 28

    5:00PM
    Saratoga Spa State Park - Ferndell Pavillion

  • May 28

    7:00PM
    Saratoga Spa State Park - Ferndell Pavillion

  • May 29

    5:00PM
    Saratoga Spa State Park - Ferndell Pavillion

  • May 29

    7:00PM
    Saratoga Spa State Park - Ferndell Pavillion

Only 30 tickets per showing!

If you've ever wondered if Spa State Park’s trees could talk... Join Opera Saratoga in the Ferndell Pavilion for nature’s “surround sound” installation of a new opera, In a Grove. Film buffs might recognize the story from Kurosawa's Rashomon. This operatic adaptation of Akutagawa’s classic short story In a Grove offers a searing investigation into the impossibility and elusiveness of truth

In a Grove, is composed by Chris Cerrone with libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann.

*Rain date: May 31 at 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM

“A vividly immersive thriller about the nature of truth and memory. Not a word or note is without dramaturgical purpose.”

— The New York Times

Cast (by order of appearance)

  • Chase Sanders

    Leona Raines

  • Randy Ho

    Ambrose Raines

  • Sadie Spivey

    Leona’s Mother

  • Shavon Lloyd

    Luther Harlow

  • Geoffrey Schmelzer

    Woodcutter

  • Chuanyuan Liu

    Priest/Medium

  • Wagner Mauricio Pastor

    Policeman

Creative Team

  • Chris Cerrone

    Chris Cerrone

    Composer

  • Stephanie Fleischmann

    Librettist

  • Mary Birnbaum

    Director

  • Luke Poeppel

    Conductor

  • Sam Torres

    Sound Designer

  • Paige Cameron

    Assistant Director

  • Zoe Lesser

    Assistant Conductor

Musical Preparation Laurie Rogers

Stage Manager Miguel Flores


Metropolis Ensemble performed the pre-recorded instrumental accompaniment for this production of In A Grove* (In a Circle Records, 2023).

*In a Grove was commissioned by the Los Angeles Opera, with production support from Pittsburgh Opera, and with additional creative and development support provided by Metropolis Ensemble, Raulee Marcus, and Steven Block. 

IN A GROVE is presented by arrangement with Schott Music Corporation, New York, publisher and copyright owner.

As we gather in Spa State Park, we are on the lands of the Mohican, the Mohawk and the Abenaki. Native communities have remained present and have thrived here in Saratoga in spite of centuries of settler colonial violence perpetrated against their lives and livelihoods. We recognize and respect the historical Indigenous inhabitants of this land, as well as Native communities across the Americas.