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OUR MISSION
Opera Saratoga’s innovative world class performances and programs inspire, educate, and heal audiences and artists through the power of the human voice.
OUR VISION
To be a valued community partner and asset;
To provide access to a wide variety of high-quality opera programs for diverse audiences throughout the region throughout the year;
To be a trusted curator of all things operatic for our constituents;
To be a recognized and highly-respected destination for opera lovers from around the country; and
To serve the opera field by providing ongoing opportunities for emerging operatic artists to reach their fullest potential through participation in our programs.
commitment to equity
Opera Saratoga is deeply committed to addressing racial and gender inequities in the operatic field. Recent initiatives have included the introduction of a new concert series in partnership with Saratoga’s historic Caffé Lena, AMERICA SINGS, to highlight BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) artists who have been historically underrepresented on the opera stage, and a commitment to produce important works by BIPOC, as well as works by women composers and librettists, including the world premiere of THE SELFISH GIANT in 2023 by the all-women creative team of Brazilian composer Clarice Assad and librettist Lila Palmer.
The company is has also made a gender equity pledge to ensure that at least half of the conductors and directors hired each season are women.
OPERA SARATOGA IS PROUD TO BE
A FOUNDING MEMBER OF OPERA AMERICA,
THE NATIONAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION
FOR OPERA IN THE UNITED STATES. -
Mary Birnbaum, General and Artistic Director
Amanda Robie, Executive Director
Tiffany Dzembo, Administrative Associate
Laurie Rogers, Director of Artistic Operations
Adam Nielsen, Head of Music Staff and Director of Festival Artist Program
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Officers
Steve Rosenblum, President
John Zizzo, Vice President
Bryan Benak, Treasurer
Abby Tegnelia, Secretary
Executive Committee
Robert Miller, Chairman
William Lynch, Development Committee Chair
Ken Ritzenberg, Governance Committee Chair
Mary Birnbaum, Ex Officio, General and Artistic Director
Directors
Jeff Altamari
Marco Anichini
Robin Benak
Clark Gale
George R. Hearst III
Adam Hostetter
Ellen Jabbur
Holly Katz
Carol Markley
Julia Morton
Dr. Christine Rowe-Button
Jessica Schwartzman
Derek Stannard
Robert Stout
Dr. Norbert Woods
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Lake George Opera, now Opera Saratoga, began with a production of Die Fledermaus at the Diamond Point Theatre on July 5, 1962, playing to an audience of 230 people. The company now calls Saratoga Springs home and performs for more than 25,000 people annually. 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. Throughout its history, the company's continued success has been shaped by visionary leaders, talented artists, and critically acclaimed productions.
Fred Patrick, with his wife soprano Jeanette Scovotti, established the company in Lake George, seeking a permanent seasonal repertory company that presented opera in English and showcased young, talented American singers. An ambitious first season included 46 performances in eight weeks, fully staged, with two pianists providing accompaniment.
Growing audiences and performances with orchestra quickly followed, and in 1965, the Opera moved to the newly completed auditorium at the Queensbury High School in Glens Falls. That year also saw the formation of the company's first Board of Directors and the loss of Fred Patrick to cancer at just 37 years old. Then current artistic director, David Lloyd was appointed general director, a post he held until 1980. During Lloyd's tenure, the company gave its first contemporary and American operas, Menotti's The Telephone in 1965 and Robert Ward's The Crucible in 1966, and four world-premiere productions: David Amram's Twelfth Night and Robert Baksa's Aria da Capo, both in 1968, The Child by Jose Bernardo in 1974, and Alva Henderson's The Last of the Mohicans in 1977. He formed the Contemporary American Opera Studio in 1980 and introduced Opera-on-the-Lake in 1972.
From 1981 through 1985, Paulette Haupt-Nolen served as artistic director, initiating collaborations with the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center to workshop new operas and Proctor's Theatre for a production of Man of La Mancha. She produced the company's first opera at the Spa Little Theater in Saratoga Springs, the world premiere of The Adventures of Friar Tuck by Glenn Paxton, and introduced the traveling Opera-On-Wheels Program in 1985.
The late 1980s welcomed artistic directors Brian Lingham (1986-87) and John Balme (1988-91), inaugurated the Opera-to-Go education program in 1986, and saw the world premiere of Mark Houston's Hazel Kirke, an opera set in the Hudson River Valley in the 1840s. The 1989 and 1990 seasons were performed at Adirondack Community College, while the Queensbury High School Auditorium underwent renovations.
In 1991, Susan T. Danis was appointed to the newly established post of managing director and the company returned to Queensbury. 1993 was a transitional year, with David Lloyd returning as interim artistic director, and during which the Opera featured many alumni in three gala concerts, but performing no fully staged productions.
Joseph Illick became artistic director for the next five summers, programming a variety of works that included Rossini's La Donna del Lago, Massenet's Cendrillon, Jorge Martin's Tobermory, Richard Wargo's The Music Shop, and Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the latter featuring the Boys Choir of Harlem as the Spirits in the Forest.
1998 brought major changes for Lake George Opera. Due to renovations at the Queensbury High School, the Company performed its summer season in the Spa Little Theater on the grounds of Spa State Park in Saratoga Springs. The 500-seat theater proved a perfect venue for intimate opera, and though the move was initially intended to be temporary, it has remained the company's main performance space since then. In 1998, the company also began performing operas in their original languages with projected supertitles.
In 1999, the company hired conductor Daniel Beckwith and stage director Marc Verzatt as co-artistic directors. Shortly thereafter, William Florescu joined the company as artistic director. The new team established a brand of intimate opera theater that would characterize the company’s productions going forward. Important projects during this period included notable productions of Ariadne auf Naxos in the Spa Little Theater, Madama Butterfly in partnership with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in SPAC's outdoor amphitheater, and the initiation in 2000 of a five-year Opera-to-Go education tour cycle of operas by John Davies.
In 2002, William Florescu assumed both executive and administrative leadership responsibilities. During the next three years, he reintroduced American operas into the repertory, showcased Apprentice Artists in concert programs with orchestra, initiated the Lake George Opera Summer Camp, and, along with event Chairs Ted and Carol Newlin, initiated the company's annual Opera Ball.
In 2005, Florescu moved to the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, and Curtis Tucker became the company's eighth artistic director. In 2006, Tucker guided an expanded summer season that included the professional premiere of Ned Rorem's Our Town and a semi-staged Apprentice Artist performance of Menotti's The Medium. Tucker served in leadership roles for the company for nine seasons, overseeing the 50th season in 2011, and the formal name change to Opera Saratoga that same season. Among the successes of Tucker’s tenure were many critically acclaimed performances of works by Gilbert and Sullivan.
In 2014, the Board of Directors appointed Lawrence Edelson as the new artistic and general director. Highlights of Edelson’s tenure included the world premieres of Jeremy Howard Beck and Stephanie Fleischmann’s The Long Walk and Ricky Ian Gordon and Frank Bidart’s Ellen West; the company’s first baroque opera (Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, in a site-specific production at The National Museum of Dance); the company’s first opera in Spanish (Daniel Catán’s Il Postino); the American premiere of Philip Glass and Beni Montresor’s opera-ballet, The Witches of Venice; and the 80th Anniversary production of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, which utilized the composer’s original orchestration for the first time anywhere in the world in over 50 years, and was recorded for commercial release – marking Opera Saratoga’s first professional recording.
In 2020, Opera Saratoga was forced to cancel the Summer Festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company adapted its programming to include the launch of a virtual education program for elementary school students, and a live streamed concert series – America Sings – to amplify the voices of BIPOC singers who have been historically underrepresented on the concert stage. In 2021, the company resumed live performances with a modified season that included Man of La Mancha, its first large scale musical in partnership with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The 2022 season built upon this partnership by joining with multiple venues across the region to present a region-wide festival of opera, musical theater and concerts.
The company conducted a national search for Edelson’s successor and named Mary Birnbaum as the next artistic and general director in February of 2023. Birnbaum has focused on revitalizing the education program, bringing opera to over 30 schools and venues in the region and expanding Songs by Heart, a therapeutic music program for seniors afflicted with Alzheimer’s or dementia as well as moving the opera to Universal Preservation Hall in downtown Saratoga Springs.
Birnbaum’s efforts have emphasized accessibility through free programming for kids, working with local artists, and the inclusion of works by living composers and continuing the tradition of producing musicals. In 2024, the company commissioned its first full-length opera from an all female team, DRIFT.
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2025: In A Grove, La vie parisienne (Offenbach), She Loves Me, A Mass for Women in Bathrooms
2024: Così fan tutte (Mozart), Guys and Dolls, mad scramble for crumb
2023: The Selfish Giant, Don Pasquale (Donizetti), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
2022: Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini), Sweeney Todd, Sky on Swings, The Barber of Seville
2021: Man of La Mancha (Leigh); Don Quixote at Camacho’s Wedding (Telemann)
2020: Cancelled due to COVID-19
2019: La Fille du Régiment (Donizetti); Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdinck); Ellen West (Gordon); Mozart & Salieri (Rimsky Korsakov)
2018: The Merry Widow (Lehár); The Consul (Menotti); Rocking Horse Winner (Williams); Vinkensport (Little)2017: Falstaff (Verdi); Zémire et Azor (Grétry); The Cradle Will Rock (Blitzstein)
2016: Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart); Il Postino (Catán); The Witches of Venice (Glass)
2015: La cenerentola (Rossini); Dido and Aeneas (Purcell); The Long Walk (Beck)
2014: Die Zauberflote (Mozart); L’Elisir d’amore (Donizetti); Roscoe – workshop concert (Mack)2013: H.M.S. Pinafore (Sullivan); Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)
2012: Rigoletto (Verdi); The Mighty Casey (Schuman); Le 66 (Offenbach); Trial by Jury (Sullivan)
2011: Die Fledermaus (Strauss); Cosi fan Tutte (Mozart)
2010: Carmen (Bizet); Viva La Momma (Donizetti)
2009: Madama Butterfly (Puccini); Don Pasquale (Donizetti); Eleanor Roosevelt – workshop (Vehar)
2008: The Pirates of Penzance (Sullivan); La Traviata (Verdi); Gianni Schicchi (Puccini); Buoso’s Ghost (Ching)
2007: Tartuffe (Mechem); La Boheme (Puccini); La Vie Parisienne (Offenbach)
2006: Our Town (Rorem); The Barber of Seville (Rossini); The Medium (Menotti); I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo); Il Maestro di Cappella (Cimarosa)
2005: The Italian Girl in Algiers (Rossini); The Mikado (Sullivan)
2004: Candide (Bernstein); The Elixir of Love (Donizetti)
2003: Susannah (Floyd); La Cenerentola (Rossini)
2002: Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart); The Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti)
2001: Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss); H.M.S. Pinafore (Sullivan); Il Re Pastore (Mozart)
2000: Madama Butterfly (Puccini); The Secret Marriage (Cimarosa); Cosi fan Tutte (Mozart)
1999: Don Giovanni (Mozart); The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
1998: Don Pasquale (Donizetti); La Traviata (Verdi)
1997: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten); Tobermory (Martin); The Pledge Drive (Mozart); Otello (Verdi)
1996: The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart); The Bartered Bride (Smetana); Trial by Jury (Sullivan); The Music Shop (Wargo)
1995: Cendrillon (Massenet); The Old Maid & the Thief (Menotti); Gianni Schicchi (Puccini); La Cenerentola (Rossini); Rigoletto (Verdi)
1994: La Boheme (Puccini); The Lady of the Lake (Rossini)
1993: No staged productions
1992: The Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti); Porgy & Bess (Gershwin); The Tales of Hoffman (Offenbach); Aida (Verdi)
1991: Carmen (Bizet); My Fair Lady (Loewe); The Magic Flute (Mozart); La Traviata (Verdi)
1990: Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck); Manon (Massenet); The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart); Friends and Dinosaurs (Shadle); Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss); Un Ballo in Maschera (Verdi); Falstaff (Verdi)
1989: Don Giovanni (Mozart); La Vie Parisienne (Offenbach); Madama Butterfly (Puccini); The Pirates of Penzance (Sullivan)
1988: The Merry Widow (Lehar); The Birthday of the Bank (Lehrman); The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
1987: The Mikado (Sullivan); Rigoletto (Verdi); The Elixir of Love (Donizetti); Hazel Kirke (Houston)
1986: Tosca (Puccini); Carousel (Rodgers); Die Fledermaus (Strauss)
1985: The Seduction of a Lady (Wargo); The Boor (Argento); The Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti); Romeo and Juliet (Gounod)
1984: The Consul (Menotti); The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart); La Boheme (Puccini)
1983: H.M.S. Pinafore (Sullivan); Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti); Kiss Me, Kate (Porter); The Adventures of Friar Tuck (Paxton); Werther (Massenet)
1982: I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo); Tartuffe (Mechem); The Tales of Hoffman (Offenbach); La Cenerentola (Rossini)
1981: Carmen (Bizet); Man of La Mancha (Leigh); Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart)
1980: Susannah (Floyd); Madama Butterfly (Puccini); The Student Prince (Romberg)
1979: The Merry Widow (Lehar); Don Giovanni (Mozart); The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
1978: Faust (Gounod); Summer and Smoke (Hoiby); The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart); The Mikado (Sullivan)
1977: Carmen (Bizet); Don Pasquale (Donizetti); The Last of the Mohicans (Henderson); La Boheme (Puccini)
1976: Porgy and Bess (Gershwin); Summer and Smoke (Hoiby); Manon (Massenet); Cosi fan Tutte (Mozart); Falstaff (Verdi)
1975: The Magic Flute (Mozart); La Perichole (Offenbach); Madama Butterfly (Puccini); The Rake’s Progress (Stravinsky); Falstaff (Verdi)
1974: The Child (Bernardo); The Magic Flute (Mozart); The Barber of Seville (Rossini); Die Fledermaus (Strauss); La Traviata (Verdi)
1973: Tosca (Puccini); The Barber of Seville (Rossini); Rigoletto (Verdi); The Crucible (Ward)
1972: Postcard from Morocco (Argento); The Rape of Lucretia (Britten); Black Widow (Pasatieri); Tosca (Puccini); Three Penny Opera (Weill)
1971: Faust Counter Faust (Gesner); L’Infedelta Delusa (Haydn); La Boheme (Puccini); The Italian Girl in Algiers (Rossini); The Mother of Us All (Thomson)
1970: Les Illuminations (Britten); L’Infedelta Delusa (Haydn); Don Giovanni (Mozart); La Boheme (Puccini); Elephant Steps (Silverman)
1969: Albert Herring (Britten); Don Pasquale (Donizetti); Gianni Schicchi (Puccini); L’heure Espagnole (Ravel); Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss)
1968: Twelfth Night (Amram); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten); Romeo and Juliet (Gounod); The Merry Wives of Windsor (Nicolai); Otello (Rossini)
1967: The Ballad of Baby Doe (Moore); The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart); Tosca (Puccini); La Traviata (Verdi); The Crucible (Ward)
1966: The Taming of the Shrew (Giannini); Madama Butterfly (Puccini); The Barber of Seville (Rossini); Die Fledermaus (Strauss); The Crucible (Ward)
1965: The Taming of the Shrew (Giannini); I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo); The Telephone (Menotti); Cosi fan Tutte (Mozart); La Boheme (Puccini); Rigoletto (Verdi)
1964: Carmen (Bizet); The Elixir of Love (Donizetti); Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck); Don Giovanni (Mozart); Madama Butterfly (Puccini); H.M.S. Pinafore (Sullivan); Rigoletto (Verdi)
1963: Carmen (Bizet); Hansel & Gretel (Humperdinck); The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart); Tosca (Puccini); The Barber of Seville (Rossini); The Mikado (Sullivan); La Traviata (Verdi)
1962: Cosi fan Tutte (Mozart); La Boheme (Puccini); The Barber of Seville (Rossini); Die Fledermaus (Strauss)