University Opera 2024/25 Productions

Each year, we present an annual season of two fully staged operas, as well as evenings of opera scenes and one-act operas.

Special Workshop of new opera La Ballonniste - Sept. 24, 2024 - Collins Recital Hall

Free | No ticket required

A special workshop of new opera La Ballonniste, by Lisa Bielawa, composer, and Claire Solomon, librettist. La Ballonniste is a story about the first female balloonist in late 18th-century France.

Public performance of excerpts Sept. 24, 2024, Collins Recital Hall, 7:30 pm

Songbird - Nov. 22-26, 2024 – Music Hall

Purchase tickets

Adaptation by Eric Sean Fogel, James Lowe, and Kelley Rourke
Musical arrangement and orchestration by James Lowe
English lyrics and book by Kelley Rourke
Based on La Périchole by Jacques Offenbach, Henri Meilhac, and Ludovic Halévy
Commissioned by the Glimmerglass Festival, 2021

Songbird – an adaptation of Offenbach’s comedy La Périchole scored for New Orleans style jazz band. Sung in French and English. In 1920s New Orleans, performers Songbird and Piquillo are struggling to make ends meet. The conniving mayor, Don Andrès, sees an opportunity to both help Songbird out and to serve his own lascivious desires. But in doing so, he plunges the community into a series of dizzying, madcap escapades. In the end, love conquers all as Songbird and Piquillo outsmart Don Andrès. Add to this a fabulous, beautiful, and jazzy score and laissez les bon temps rouler!

Opera Workshop Performances - Dec. 3, 2024