Libretto by FRANCESCO MARIA PIAVE ANDREA MAFFEI Conductor
MUSIC IS A VITAL PART OF THE CULTURAL FABRIC OF OUR COMMUNITY.
It’s not just about the performances we put on; it’s about how we show everything opera can be. From our Concerts in the Courtyard to Street Stage and innovative programs like Create Your Own Opera and our Audition Workshops, we’re committed to bringing opera into diverse spaces where it can touch lives in meaningful ways.
Help us make wonder possible! Through your support, we’re able to engage hundreds of Boston youth, foster deep connections with families, and build a vibrant, inclusive community. Donors like you make it possible for us to offer free community operas and transformative educational experiences, inspiring the next generation through the power of music. To make your gift, please scan the QR code.
Alexis Peart as Mrs. Noah is joined by youth artists from multiple Boston area organizations for BLO’s free production of Noah’s Flood in May 2025.
From the Directors
Dear Friends,
We had the joy of starting the season this summer with our free outdoor Street Stage performances, bringing opera to a dozen communities across the region. Seeing people of all ages come together to enjoy music — whether it was their first opera or a longtime favorite — reminds us why we do this work: to connect generations and neighborhoods through deeply personal, social, and artistic moments that light up our lives.
We also returned to the Boston Public Library’s Concert in the Courtyard series and toured to Provincetown, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Cape, sharing music as a public good with communities across the state and warmly welcoming audiences wherever we went.
This year, we’re proud to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists Initiative. This flagship program offers talented young artists the chance to grow through coaching, mentorship, and performance opportunities — helping to prepare them for the next stage of their careers. More than 50 artists have flourished through the program, and this season we’re thrilled to welcome eight creative voices to the roster. These artists brought performances to life on our Street Stage this summer and are now stepping into roles in Macbeth. Later in the season, we hope you’ll join us for Ride of the Valkyries! and The Opera Gala 2025, celebrating this important anniversary year of the Emerging Artists Initiative and honoring the next generation of opera artists.
It is especially fitting that we open this season with Macbeth, returning to the BLO stage after more than a decade, featuring six Emerging Artists and EA alumni in principal roles. This production brings together our remarkable cast alongside the BLO Orchestra and Chorus — our core performance ensembles of the company whose skill, artistry, and dedication are central to our work.
Thank you for being here with us. Whether this is your first BLO experince or one of many, we hope you enjoy the music, the stories, and the sense of community that opera can bring. We can’t wait to share this season with you.
With appreciation,
Bradley Vernatter
Stanford Calderwood General Director & CEO
Nina Yoshida Nelsen Artistic Director
UPCOMING BLO EVENTS
OCT 18
BLO @ FORT POINT OPEN STUDIOS | OPERA ON TOUR: DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT MASARY Studios, Midway Artist Studios
OCT 21
OPERA INNOVATORS: KAREN SLACK RECITAL
Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Seully Hall
NOV 12
RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES! THE OPERA GALA 2025 SoWa Power Station
NOV 19
A CONVERSATION WITH ANNE EWERS Pucker Gallery
DEC 4 OPERA NIGHT
Boston Public Library, Central Branch
DEC 5
OPERA INNOVATORS: MELANIE BACALING MASTERCLASS
Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Seully Hal
For event details, visit blo.org/events
BOLDNESS
Page 2, from top: Mitridate (2024) and Noah's Flood (2025).
Page 3, from top: Street Stage at Plaza Betances with partners from Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (2025); Create Your Own Opera participants at Saint Brendan School, Dorchester, MA (2025); and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel (2025).
COLLABORATION LEARNING BELONGING
FROM TOP: PHOTOS BY BLO STAFF |
PHOTO BY NILE SCOTT STUDIOS
Dear Friends,
Welcome back to the opera! We are thrilled to open our 49th Season with Verdi’s Macbeth, a piece that Boston Lyric Opera has not visited since 2011, but one that deserves this repeat trip.
We welcome Steve Maler, the founding artistic director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC), back to BLO to direct this production after successfully helming our free performances of Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet in 2022 on the Boston Common in partnership with CSC.
This CSC partnership has recently expanded to include BLO’s Opera + Community Studios, where CSC rehearses for their summer productions. CSC is among dozens of arts organizations that benefit from BLO’s Studios — a much needed creative space for the City of Boston that will become even more valuable to artists after fit-out construction is completed. BLO’s commitment is to be present in the local arts community, using our resources to support and elevate others so that the entire cultural ecosystem thrives. Our Opera + Community Studios facility is located in the historical waterfront neighborhood of Fort Point. Please plan to visit, especially once our renovation is complete in spring 2026.
With over 150 programs, performances, and dynamic collaborations with local cultural organizations each year, Boston Lyric Opera is actively increasing opportunities for people to engage with the arts. Together, we continue to grow alongside our peer organizations, shaping a future for Boston that is inclusive, vibrant, and powered by culture.
As always, none of this is possible without you. Thank you for being a part of our 49th Season. We hope to see you at many performances throughout the year!
With warm regards,
Alicia M. Cooney
Wayne C. Davis Board Chair Board President
Board of Directors
Alicia Cooney Board Chair
Wayne Davis Board President
Miguel de Bragança Vice Chair
Andrew Eisenberg Vice President
Susan W. Jacobs
Treasurer
Dr. Irving H. Plotkin Clerk
Board of Advisors
Russell Lopez
Lawrence St. Clair
Lydia Kenton Walsh Co-Chairs
Michael Puzo
Immediate Past Board Chair
Bradley Vernatter
Ex Officio | Stanford
Calderwood General Director & CEO
Timothy Fulham
Christine Goerke
Jack Gorman
Lisa Hillenbrand
Jennifer Ritvo Hughes
Amelia Welt Katzen
Sally Kornbluth
Maria J. Krokidas
John Loder
Abigail B. Mason
Jo Frances Meyer
Anne M. Morgan
A. Neil Pappalardo
Dr. Susan E. Bennett
Richard M. Burnes, Jr.
Ellie Cabot
Carole Charnow
Carol Deane
Larry DeVito
JoAnne Walton
Dickinson
Laura Dike
Robert Eastman
Brian Gokey
Sylvia Han
David Hoffman
Amy Hunter
Louise Johnson
Janika LeMaitre
Lynne Levitsky
Anita Loscalzo
Kathryn McDaniel
Jillian McGrath
Kate Meany
Elaine Murphy
Maria Park
Winfield Perry
Susan Rodgerson
Vincent D. Rougeau
Alex Senchak
Peter Wender
George Yip
Leadership Council
David Scudder Chair
Steven P. Akin
Linda Cabot Black
Paul Montrone
Ray Stata
Emeriti
Steven P. Akin
J.P. Bargeru
Horace H. Irvine IIu
Sherif A. Nada
E. Lee Perryu
Jane Pisciottoli Papa
Bill Poduska
Susanne Potts
Stephen Ricci
Carl Rosenberg
Allison Ryder
Simone Santiago
Barbara Senchak
Tricia Swift
Wynne Szeto
Frank Tempesta
Richard Trant
Amy Tsurumi
Archana
Venkataraman
Robert Walsh
Yin-Yin Wang
Tania Zouikin
As of September 17, 2025 u Deceased
The cause? Vital. The music? Unmissable. The vibe? 100% BLO.
From the first toast to the final note, it’s a night of boldness, brilliance, and community — all in support of making opera more open, joyful, and alive for everyone.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2025
SoWa Power Station | 550 Harrison Avenue, Boston Festivities begin at 5:00pm | Performance begins at 8:00pm
Scan for more information on tickets and sponsorships
JOHN CONKLIN
John Conklin served as an Artistic Advisor for Boston Lyric Opera until his passing this year. He held long-standing leadership roles with both BLO and The Glimmerglass Festival, and his work shaped the stages of many of the world’s most prominent opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the opera companies of Houston, Seattle, Dallas, Washington, and Minneapolis. Internationally, he designed for English National Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and Opera Australia. He held a long tenure as a professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts before retiring. In 2011, John was awarded an NEA Opera Honors.
John’s first opera with BLO was La bohème in our 1992/93 season. From there, he created dozens of productions for us, as well as installations, lecture series, marketing artwork, and special projects such as our Signature Series. He served as Artistic Advisor on our leadership team from 2009 until his passing, shaping the Company’s artistic vision each season. Most recently, in August–September 2024, BLO co-presented a retrospective of his work in partnership with the Museum of Scenographic Design at our Opera + Community Studios. That exhibit was later transferred to Opera America in New York City.
John will be deeply missed by the many artists, technicians, stage crew, administrators, students, patrons, and colleagues who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him. He will be remembered as a prolific designer, dramaturg, storyteller, luminary, and friend.
THOMAS (TOM) GILL
Thomas (Tom) Gill served on our Board of Directors from 2005-2019. From 2005-2011, he was Vice Chairman of the Board. He also was active on and chaired several committees, serving in those roles with energy, intelligence, charm, and good humor. Tom was truly an impactful member of BLO’s leadership during those years. Tom and his wife, Jody, were ardent subscribers and champions of BLO for more than three decades.
GRAHAM GUND
Graham Gund served as a member of our Board of Advisors from 1995-2002. He was an exceptional supporter and devoted opera fan. A dedicated philanthropist and patron of the arts, he served as a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and led the Gund Foundation, supporting arts, education, and social justice. We will miss seeing him and his wife, Ann, in the center of the orchestra section for all of our productions.
John Conklin: A Man of Drama, by Design
by Anthony Savvides
November 2, 2011
Around the time of Boston Lyric Opera’s first production of Macbeth in November 2011, BLO dramaturg and artistic advisor John Conklin — who was the production’s set designer — was recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as the 2011 NEA Opera Honoree. Below is a Boston Globe interview with John, who passed away earlier this year. We share this article once more to honor his legacy and give you a chance to learn about his career and approach to opera in his own words. We will miss his presence, his passion, and his love for the artform.
WHO: John Conklin
WHAT: Acclaimed internationally as a stage, set, and costume designer whose work has been featured in opera houses and theaters across the globe, Conklin was recently honored by the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. In 2008, he retired from Glimmerglass Opera, where he worked for 18 years as the associate artistic director. Retirement didn’t last, though. Conklin followed his former Glimmerglass colleague, Esther Nelson, and has been working closely with her and the Boston Lyric Opera as a dramaturg and artistic adviser ever since. Conklin spoke with us about his work, why retirement wasn’t for him, and his most recent production, Verdi’s ‘‘Macbeth,’’ opening tomorrow at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre.
Q. How did you come to love the opera, and how did you end up working in Boston?
A. I had some early Boston roots in that my grandparents lived in Boston. Some of the first opera I went to was here in Boston with my grandmother, at age 10. We would go to the Boston Symphony, and that was an interesting introduction to opera and to Boston. I’ve always been interested in theater and opera and design. I used to go with my mother to the [Metropolitan Opera] for my birthday.
Q. How did you go from set design to being a dramaturg at the BLO?
A. At some point a couple of years ago, I thought I would retire. And I did, but it turned out, as everybody said, “Oh, you’re not going to retire.’’ So, I came back as a dramaturg, which deals with techs, and reading, and the whole world of the opera other than the world on the stage. I also went back [to New York University] to teach. [Boston] is easy to get to, almost like a commute from New York. I think it is all working out to a good balance. I’m also back to designing shows [in Boston], which I like doing.
MICHAEL G. STEWART | 2011
Q. What do you hope audiences take away from the “Macbeth’’ production?
A. The basic scenery for the set was from a production I designed for NYC Opera 10 or 12 years ago. When BLO started talking about doing “Macbeth,’’ we began talking about renting that set. But, the original director [Leon Major] was not available, so we got another director [David Schweizer] and took the set and reworked our story around it. We have added... props and more colorful carnival-like figures. So, the production is completely different than the one in New York, but based on the same original set design.
Q. How did you transition from set design in your earlier career to teaching college students?
John Conklin’s 2011 NEA Opera Honors interview.
SCAN TO WATCH
A. I like doing it and I like the connection with younger designers. It’s useful for me to examine my own philosophies about opera and design through conversation with them, and that design can involve more aspects. It’s not just about the design and architecture, but also about history and philosophy and poetry. It’s a wide-ranging world, which is fascinating to explore for myself and fascinating to let them into that world. There are a lot of different levels that one can study and use to bring these things to life on the stage. That’s one of the things that I think draws people into the theater to be designers... you get the chance to explore all these different aspects of history, and history of art, and other theater and movies — anything that can be part of the sources for your vocabulary that you use to put the story on the stage. In this case it’s a visual story and a visual vocabulary. So the bigger your vocabulary is, metaphorically speaking, the more able you will be to create something eloquent and meaningful.
Q. How do you see your career trajectory in the years to come?
A. I think it will continue, because it has worked out very well. It seems the right amount of work and the right amount of time off. I’m very pleased with how it has worked out between New York and Boston. I feel that... Esther [Nelson] is leading the BLO in a very different direction and stimulated by the idea of working with a company to develop it in different directions.
Q. And how does it feel to have your entire body of work honored by the NEA?
A. I was very surprised — pleased, but surprised. This is the first time they’ve given it to a designer. There are four awards a year, and they have given them to singers, and directors, but never to a designer. I think it is partially [for] my connection at Glimmerglass as a dramaturg and helping to run the company, and how that has happened again in Boston.
In recognition of John’s deep commitment to intellectual discourse, never-ending curiosity, and contributions over the years to BLO initiatives like the Signature Series, Deconstructing Opera, our Study Guides, dramaturgical writings, and lectures, we will name our dramaturgical series the John Conklin Learning & Dramaturgy Series.
In recognition of his 30+ years designing productions with BLO and his long tenure as Artistic Advisor, John will be posthumously named Artistic Advisor & Designer Emeritus.
MACBETH
Music by GIUSEPPE VERDI
Libretto by FRANCESCO MARIA PIAVE and ANDREA MAFFEI
Sung in Italian with English surtitles
David Angus, BLO Music Director
2025/26 Season Sponsor Linda Cabot Black
PERFORMANCES
FRI, OCT 10, 2025 | 7:30PM SUN, OCT 12, 2025 | 3:00PM
Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes (approx.), including one 20-minute intermission
EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE
106 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116
W Boston Lyric Opera Debut
C Boston Lyric Opera Principal Debut
l Boston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin
Emerging Artist
t Boston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin
Emerging Artist Alum
CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor
DAVID ANGUS
Stage Director
STEVE MALER
Set Designer
AMY RUBIN
Costume Designer
AMANDA GLADU W
Lighting Designer
ERIC SOUTHERN
Wig & Makeup Designer
TOM WATSON
Intimacy Director/Fight Choreographer
ANGIE JEPSON
Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra
ANNIE RABBAT Orchestra Leader
Boston Lyric Opera Chorus
BRETT HODGDON t Chorus Director
Rehearsal Coach/Pianist
BRENDON SHAPIRO t
Stage Manager
MICHAEL JANNEY
Macbeth is a co-production with Boston Lyric Opera and San Diego Opera.
Backstage communication access coordinated by Think Outside the Vox. Directors of Artistic Sign Language (DASLs) for this production are Kristin Johnson and Sabrina Louise Dennison.
CAST
Macbeth
NORMAN GARRETT W
Lady Macbeth
ALEXANDRA LOBIANCO W
Macduff
DAVID JUNGHOON KIM W
Banquo
ZAIKUAN SONG W
Malcolm
OMAR NAJMI t
Lady in Waiting
VERA SAVAGE t
SYNOPSIS
Doctor
DEVON RUSSO l
Duncan
LÉON JERFITA W
First Apparition, Assassin, Herald, Valet
ZIZHAO WANG l
Second Apparition
ANGELA YAM l
Third Apparition
JOSIE LARSEN l
Fleance
QUINN MURPHY W
Military general Macbeth hears a prophecy that foretells his ascent to political power. Upon learning this, his wife begins to scheme and during a visit from King Duncan, encourages her husband to kill the king in his sleep. After the murder, they plant false evidence to direct suspicion elsewhere. Amid the couple’s growing ambition and paranoia, Macbeth ascends to the throne in the power vacuum resulting from the king’s death. Bloody consequences mount — affecting everyone from royalty to refugees — until at last Macduff leads an opposing army to liberate the people from Macbeth’s tyranny and establish Malcolm as the rightful king.
As a fifteen-year-old, I attended my first professional theater production — Shakespeare’s Macbeth at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. Before then, I had never seen or read any of Shakespeare’s work; and to be honest, I could not understand a single word spoken onstage. None of that mattered to me, though. The atmosphere was thick with magic — an intensity that pulled me in from the very beginning. Adrian Hall’s direction, together with remarkable performances from the cast, made the production truly unforgettable. Witches descended from the ceiling and moved among the audience, amplifying the sense of dark enchantment. Eugene Lee’s scenic design transformed the entire auditorium into an immersive 360-degree world, surrounding me and a thousand other high school students with the spectacle. The actors’ physical presence, the haunting sounds, and the powerful voices all fused into an overwhelming sensory experience that held me transfixed.
That performance exerted such a powerful fascination that it ultimately inspired my own path toward becoming a theatre and opera director. When I moved to New York City in my early twenties, Macbeth called out to me again. Compelled to explore the play for myself, I placed an ad in Backstage magazine recruiting actors with the following invitation: “Actors interested in an investigation into assassination and murder using Shakespeare’s Macbeth, call this number.” This, my first production in New York City, focused on the relationship between Macbeth and Banquo. It was a brave, if relatively inexperienced,
Dark Attraction
by Anne Bogart
young directorial attempt. Since then, I have often returned to Macbeth, both Shakespeare’s original and Verdi’s operatic adaptation, drawn by the play’s inexhaustible mysteries. I find myself continually asking: what is it about this story, these characters, and this world, that invites such a fierce and enduring magnetism and attraction?
For over four centuries, Shakespeare’s Macbeth has indeed exerted a powerful hold on audiences, rising repeatedly from the shadows to cast its “dark attractions” anew. The play’s irresistible pull seems to come from the way it immerses us in the starkest aspects of human ambition, guilt, and the supernatural, while never relinquishing its deep humanity. Macbeth is, ultimately, the story of a “dark attractor” — a character, a play, a subject matter so charged with danger and possibility that it draws us closer even as it warns us to keep our distance. It is a tale that thrives on our perennial fascination with the shadows both around and within us.
From the very opening lines of Macbeth, the eerie chants of the witches stir a powerful sense of awe and unease. In Shakespeare’s time, belief in witchcraft and prophecy was pervasive and deeply feared. These characters were not merely theatrical inventions; they represented something genuinely provocative and taboo. To many in the original early-17th-century audience, the witches felt frighteningly real, and some even speculated that Shakespeare included lines drawn from actual witchcraft rituals — incantations that people might have recognized as authentic and potentially dangerous. The witches also speak in
Katherine Helmond as Lady Macbeth inTrinity Rep’s 1969 production of Macbeth
trochaic tetrameter — a choppier, more insistent rhythm than Shakespeare’s usual iambic pentameter, which is closer to the spoken word — echoing the cadence of ritual chanting and intensifying the impression that their words could wield genuine magical power. In 1606, when Macbeth premiered, most people believed that language itself could invoke dark forces, making these scenes emotionally and spiritually unsettling. The witches’ otherworldly presence and supernatural abilities signaled that the play was crossing boundaries between the natural and the supernatural, as well as between the visible and the invisible. By conjuring what was imagined or hidden into view, the witches steered Macbeth — and the audience — into morally ambiguous territory, where the distinction between good and evil is blurred, and every action’s true meaning is left uncertain.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth stands as both a tribute to and a transformation of Shakespeare’s original play. The bones are there: ambition, blood, the violent ascent to power. While it remains largely faithful to the source material, Verdi reimagines the story through the unique lens of opera, using music to heighten emotion, underscore psychological tension, and evoke atmosphere. The sense of menace and supernatural dread that defines Macbeth is not spoken, but sung — conjured through dark orchestration, dramatic vocal lines, and haunting choral passages. The story’s structure remains recognizable. A soldier hears a prophecy. His wife urges him towards power. Blood is shed. Guilt rises to fill the silence. The witches still appear — strange and otherworldly — guiding events with riddles that spark chaos instead of clarity. The central themes of unchecked ambition, guilt, and the sway of the supernatural remain intact, but they are expressed with an even greater intensity of feeling.
As with most adaptations for the stage, especially opera, there is necessary compression. The complexity of Shakespeare’s text is distilled, side stories vanish, and what remains is a concentration deliberate, urgent. Verdi lingers on the moments most suited to music’s language, not the whispered plans or the quiet regrets, but the eruptions, the unraveling. Lady Macbeth, in particular, is transformed. She is portrayed as even more forceful and overtly manipulative than in Shakespeare’s version. She is ruthless, unrelenting, her ambition flaring with terrifying clarity — until, of course, it devours her. Her
breakdown, though inevitable, is rendered not just with drama but also with beauty; it is sorrow sung full-throated in the murky darkness.
The performing arts have long served as a space where humanity dares to approach its deepest fears — not to be consumed by them, but to confront them from a place of symbolic safety. Onstage, we encounter the dark corners of the human psyche, the taboos, the traumas, the impulses we often repress, like violence, madness, betrayal, possession, addiction, and death. These subjects are terrifying in life, yet strangely compelling in drama. The French theatre artist Antonin Artaud once described his “theatre of cruelty” as a form of performance designed not to comfort but to shake the audience awake, to force them to reckon with what they fear most — often a form of confrontation they cannot access in daily life. In this way, theaters themselves become what scholar Stephen Bottoms has called “dark spaces lit by imagination,” and the stage becomes a kind of psychic laboratory, where dangerous truths can surface, be observed, and perhaps even be understood.
This demanding journey is further complicated by the centuries-old superstitions that cling to Macbeth. The lingering taboo against speaking the play’s name inside a theater casts a spell of its own, filling rehearsal rooms, backstage corridors, and performance spaces with a strange, electric tension. The origins of this unease trace back to the play’s earliest performances, where tales of misfortune — even death — circulated ominously. Some believe that the so-called “curse” stems from Shakespeare’s use of authentic witchcraft incantations, evoking forces best left undisturbed. Over time, stories of onstage injuries, eerie coincidences, and tragic mishaps have kept the legend alive, feeding a collective wariness that persists to this day. In response, protective rituals — stepping outside the theater, spinning, spitting, swearing — are still performed by actors and crew in hopes of banishing bad luck. These rites, half superstition and half tradition, become part of the fabric of the production. The challenge of embodying these roles — and the powerful legacy that surrounds them — adds to the captivating nature of the work, making the act of inhabiting Macbeth or Lady Macbeth both formidable and attractive to many actors and singers. The weight of the play’s history and the magnetic pull of its danger give it an undeniable allure.
This November, the BSO and the Boston Lyric Opera team up for Vanessa, Samuel Barber’s masterpiece and considered by many to be the greatest American opera. Andris Nelsons leads some of today’s most acclaimed opera stars in this cosmopolitan, nostalgic work about lost love and the consequences of self-delusion.
Tickets available now at bso.org
BLO
is Celebrating 15 Years of the Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists Initiative!
The pursuit of a successful career in opera is a challenging and expensive undertaking. BLO proudly provides opportunities and funding for Emerging Artists to hone their talents with regular coaching and mentorship, to expand their repertoire by preparing new roles, and to be heard by diverse audiences in BLO productions and community events. More than 50 artists have benefited from this initiative since its inception.
2025/26 JANE & STEVEN AKIN EMERGING ARTISTS
First row, from left: Alexandra Dietrich director | Mary Kray mezzo-soprano
Josie Larsen soprano | Morgan Mastrangelo tenor
Second row, from left: Devon Russo bass-baritone | Laura Santamaria soprano
Zizhao Wang bass-baritone | Angela Yam soprano
A Second Glance at Lady Macbeth
by Kira Troilo, Art & Soul Consulting
“Unsex me here.” With that one command, Lady Macbeth becomes unforgettable. She strips herself of softness, of limitation, of what the world tells her it means to be a woman. But instead of celebrating her clarity of vision and force of will, history has mostly punished her for it. That punishment—psychological torment, madness, death—has been handed down for centuries as the inevitable fate of ambitious women. And that deserves a second (or thousandth) glance.
At Boston Lyric Opera, I planned to sit with the Macbeth cast and do exactly that: to ask what it means to play a character like Lady Macbeth in 2025, how we might choose to study her with fresh eyes, and what responsibility we have to engage in nuanced, thoughtful storytelling
Preserving Brilliance, Interrogating Bias
Working on stories like Macbeth means holding two things at once: reverence for Shakespeare’s brilliance—and—a responsibility to interrogate the biases baked into these characters. Lady Macbeth is dazzling—her language, her daring, her presence onstage. Truly any actor’s dream to play. But she also carries centuries of baggage, a shorthand for women who “want too much.” My work with Art & Soul has always been about building brave, creative spaces where we don’t look away from that baggage. We preserve the brilliance and ask the harder questions: What do we want modern audiences to see in her? What does it mean when ambition in a woman still reads as dangerous?
The Double Bind Made Flesh
Lady Macbeth is the embodiment of the double bind women in leadership still face. Be bold, and you’re branded as cold. Be strategic, and you’re calculating. Be vulnerable, and you’re too emotional. Hillary Clinton lived this bind in public view—always either too much or not enough.
The statistics tell us that the bind has real impact: women hold only about 30% of global leadership roles; in Fortune 500 companies, just 10% of CEOs are women. In arts leadership, women of color occupy only 4% of executive seats. Lady Macbeth might be centuries old, but the walls she ran up against still stand tall today.
Women Against Women
There’s another piece of the story we need to name: internalized bias. Women themselves have been taught to fear or resent ambition in each other. Research shows that ambitious women are judged more harshly not only by men but by women, too—seen as less likable, less trustworthy. That divide keeps us from solidarity and keeps systems intact. Lady Macbeth reflects this dynamic: a woman both admired and despised, her drive turned against her rather than being recognized as deeply human.
Why Representation Needs Nuance
Opera and theatre aren’t just entertainment; they’re mirrors. When ambitious women are constantly written as monsters or martyrs, audiences internalize that message, too. Social justice requires nuance—the courage to show women as whole, complicated, brilliant, and—yes—ambi-
Kira Troilo
tious, without making their power the poison in the story. That’s the work we must do together: to tell old stories in new ways that honor both the art and the truth of women’s lives. And that’s just one example of the many challenges—and thrills—of live theatre.
Building Brave Creative Spaces
I believe this is where the magic of brave space design comes alive most. When artists step into roles like Lady Macbeth, they deserve room to wrestle with the contradictions, the stereotypes, and the humanity, in conversation with their collaborators. When audiences sit down at Boston Lyric Opera, they deserve the chance to question not only Shakespeare’s world, but also their own assumptions. Does Lady Macbeth strike differently in 2025?
Ambition is not the enemy. What we must resist is lazy storytelling that insists women can only be punished for their power. The real task—onstage, in politics, in boardrooms—is to widen the lens, so ambition in women is recognized for what it truly is: human, complex, necessary, and worth celebrating..
Alexandra LoBianco in rehearsal as Lady Macbeth in BLO’s production of Macbeth, 2025.
COURTESY OF BLO STAFF"
TUESDAY
Opera Innovators Series
Presented in partnership by Boston Lyric Opera & Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the Opera Innovators Series brings together visionary artists & creative leaders in opera for a dynamic educational & professional development program.
Learn More
OPERA INNOVATORS SERIES
Karen Slack Recital | TUE, OCT 21
Melanie Bacaling Masterclass | FRI, DEC 5
Anne Bogart Workshop | SUN, MAR 1
Brenda Rae Masterclass | SUN, APR 12
Thank you to David & Janet McCue for their generous support of Boston Lyric Opera in presenting the Opera Innovators Series this season.
DAVID ANGUS | Conductor
Now in his sixteenth year as Boston Lyric Opera’s music director, Anglo-Danish conductor David Angus recently served as music director and conductor for BLO’s 80th-anniversary revival of Carousel, directed by Anne Bogart. Other highlights of his BLO career include a new production of Mitridate, the critically acclaimed online productions of desert in and The Fall of the House of Usher, BLO’s backwards La bohème, and Anne Bogart’s striking production of Bluebeard’s Castle | Four Songs. In addition to his work with BLO, he conducted a new Sweeney Todd at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, The Marriage of Figaro in Prague, and several recordings of new American works with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to BLO, Angus was music director of The Glimmerglass Festival and Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Flanders. He has led orchestras and choirs throughout Europe, particularly in Scandinavia, including the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and several Danish orchestras. He has conducted most of the major orchestras in Great Britain, including the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra, most of the BBC orchestras, the London Mozart Players, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has also conducted the Toscanini Orchestra in Parma, the Porto Symphony Orchestra in Portugal, Wexford Festival Opera, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the LPO, and the Huddersfield Choral Society, as well as his former orchestra in Belgium. Angus was a boy chorister at King’s College under Sir David Willcocks and read music at Surrey University. He was a conducting fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he won several prizes for opera conducting.
STEVE MALER | Stage Director
Steve Maler is the Founding Artistic Director of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC), where he has been directing free Shakespeare on the Common productions since 1996. He directed Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet for Boston Lyric Opera in 2023. In collaboration with Google, he adapted and directed a first-of-its-kind virtual reality film, Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit. Other CSC credits include Birdy, Death and the Maiden, Our American Hamlet
(world premiere), The Last Will (world premiere), and one-night-only readings featuring performers like Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Paul Rudd, Blair Brown, and Tony Shalhoub. Other theatre credits include The Turn of the Screw, New Repertory Theatre; Santaland Diaries and Porcelain, SpeakEasy Stage Company; Top Girls and Weldon Rising, Coyote Theatre; and The L.A. Plays, A.R.T. His production of Without You had a critically acclaimed six-month run off-Broadway and played across multiple continents. Opera credits include Maria, Regina D’Inghilterra, Odyssey Opera; and Angels in America and Powder Her Face, Opera Boston. In collaboration with Boston Landmarks Orchestra, he directed Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and concert stagings of The Boys from Syracuse and Kiss Me, Kate. He received the prestigious Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, as well as for Best Production, Twelfth Night; Outstanding Director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Best Production, Suburbia; and Best Solo Performance, Starf***ers. His feature film The Autumn Heart was in the Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
AMY RUBIN | Set Designer
Amy Rubin is a designer of environments for theatre, opera, and dance. Recent designs include Omar for Boston Lyric Opera, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Spoleto Festival; Romeo & Juliet for American Repertory Theater; Highway 1 for LA Opera; Orpheus Descending for Theatre for a New Audience; Lucy for Audible Theater; The Snowy Day for Houston Grand Opera; Blue for Michigan Opera Theatre; Aging Magician for New Victory Theater; Most Happy for Williamstown Theatre Festival; Octet for Signature Theatre; Cyrano with music by The National for The New Group; Thom Pain (based on nothing) for Signature Theatre; Gloria: A Life for Daryl Roth Theatre and American Repertory Theater; Miles for Mary for Playwrights Horizons; and Acquanetta for Prototype Festival.
AMANDA GLADU | Costume Designer
Amanda Gladu is a New York Citybased costume designer working in theatre, dance, opera, and film. Select recent projects include Lunch Dances, Monica Bill Barnes & Company; Scales on the Wings of a Butterfly,
BalletX; The Ghosts of Versailles, The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University; Silent Light, National Sawdust; Threshold, PARA.MAR Dance Theatre; and Peerless, 59 E 59 Theaters. Upcoming projects include Amadeus, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; and La Passion de Simone, Curtis Institute of Music. Gladu will be Special Visiting Faculty in Costume Design at Carnegie Mellon University in the 2025/26 academic year. She holds an MFA from Northwestern University and a BA from University of Texas at Austin.
ERIC SOUTHERN |
Lighting Designer
Eric Southern is an Obie Awardwinning designer working in theatre, opera, music, and dance. His designs have been seen internationally in London, Paris, Avignon, Tokyo, Seoul, Athens, Australia, Hanover, Zurich, and Romania. He is a longtime collaborator with the theatre group 600 HIGHWAYMEN, where he has collaborated on many projects that have extensively toured throughout the U.S. and internationally. He has close collaborations with many avant-garde performance makers such as Suzanne Bocanegra, Heidi Rodewald, David Lang, Susan Marshall, The Civilians, Collaboration Town, Up Until Now Collective, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Bedlam Theatre, Michael Gordon, Alarm Will Sound, The Crossing Choir, Julie Wolfe, and SO Percussion, among others. With a focus on new work, he has designed many world premiere plays at numerous theatre companies including Lincoln Center, The Goodman, BAM, MTC, The New Group, Rattlestick Theater, Primary Stages, La Mama, Atlantic Theater Company, Center Theatre Group, and The Guthrie, among others. In opera and music, he has designed for Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Harris Theater, Prototype Festival, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He received both his BFA and MFA at NYU and teaches in the MFA Stage Design program at Northwestern University.
TOM WATSON | Wig & Makeup Designer
Tom Watson headed the wig/makeup department at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 years. He returns to Boston Lyric Opera in 2025/26 for Macbeth, having most recently designed for The Handmaid’s
Tale in 2019, as well as working on other shows for the company in the 1990s. He has also designed for more than 100 Broadway productions. His design work includes Wicked, Rock of Ages, The King & I, Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo, Falsettos, The Little Foxes, My Fair Lady, Plaza Suite, Parade, the Spamalot revival, Just In Time, and Floyd Collins
ANGIE JEPSON | Intimacy
Director/Fight Choreographer
Angie Jepson is an intimacy director, fight choreographer, and professor based in the Boston area. She is thrilled to return to the BLO after serving as the fight choreographer and intimacy director for Mitridate and Carousel, as well as the intimacy director on The Anonymous Lover, La Cenerentola, and Bluebeard’s Castle|Four Songs. Her fight and intimacy work has been seen onstage at theaters including the Manhattan Theatre Club, the Huntington Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Gloucester Stage, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, Central Square Theater, and at several universities in the Boston area. She is currently on the faculty at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she teaches in the theatre and opera departments. She is a certified intimacy director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, and a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. She holds an MFA in acting from Brandeis University.
NORMAN GARRETT | Macbeth
American baritone Norman Garrett will return to the Metropolitan Opera in 2025/26 to perform Jim in Porgy and Bess, also performing Crown in Porgy and Bess with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and in concert, Carmina Burana with Boise Philharmonic and The Epic of Gilgamesh with Bard SummerScape. Recently, Garrett returned to Washington National Opera as Crown in Porgy and Bess, sang The Reverend in Blue with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, debuted at San Francisco Opera singing Abdul and Abe in Omar, returned to LA Opera as Bob in William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA, performed Masetto in Don Giovanni with Houston Grand Opera, sang Jochanaan in Salome with Des Moines Metro Opera, and debuted as Macbeth with Opera Orlando.
Concert appearances included Carmina Burana with Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Phoenix Symphony, and selections from Fire Shut Up in my Bones with composer Terence Blanchard at Purdue University and the Krannert Center in Urbana, Illinois.
ALEXANDRA LOBIANCO |
Lady Macbeth
American soprano Alexandra LoBianco has established herself as a dramatic soprano of distinctive versatility, musicality, and consistency. Her current season will see performances of Leonora in Il trovatore with Opera Colorado and concert appearances with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. LoBianco has performed with numerous opera companies of note, taking on some of the most challenging roles in the repertoire. Career highlights include Leonore in Fidelio with the Vienna State Opera and North Carolina Opera, Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and Siegfried with Seattle Opera and North Carolina Opera, Minnie in La fanciulla del West with Des Moines Metro Opera, and the title role in Turandot with Des Moines Metro Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Maryland Lyric Opera. She has also appeared as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with Seattle Opera, Alice Ford in Falstaff with Santa Fe Opera, and Marianne Leitmetzerin in Der Rosenkavalier at The Metropolitan Opera, featured in the Met’s Live in HD broadcast series. She has also performed Chrysothemis and the Fourth Maid in Elektra and Helmwige in Die Walküre at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the title role in Tosca at both North Carolina Opera and Minnesota Opera, and Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at Florida Grand Opera.
DAVID JUNGHOON KIM |
Macduff
An alumnus of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, Korean tenor David Junghoon Kim is a winner of the Francisco Viñas, Voci Verdiane, and Toulouse singing competitions. Notable roles include: Alfredo, La traviata in Cologne; Macduff, Macbeth, Royal Ballet and Opera and Zürich Opera; Rodolfo, La bohème in Zürich, Stuttgart, English National Opera, and Royal Ballet and Opera; Prince, Rusalka, Opera Nice Côte
d’Azur; Don Carlos, Don Carlos, Staatsoper Stuttgart; and Leone de Casaldi in concert performances of the world premiere of L’Ange de Nisida, Royal Ballet and Opera. In the 2024/25 season, Junghoon Kim makes his house debut as Cavaradossi, Tosca, Royal Swedish Opera; sings Rodolfo, La bohème, Seoul Metropolitan Opera; and sings Ruggero, La rondine, Volksoper Wien. He also made his debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic singing Verdi’s Requiem. A graduate of Seoul National University, he joined the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme from 2015-17, where his roles included Italian Singer, Der Rosenkavalier; Venditore, Il tabarro; Arturo, Lucia di Lammermoor (also covering Edgardo); Ruiz, Il trovatore; Flavio, Norma; Nathanael, Les contes d’Hoffmann; Lamplighter, Manon Lescaut; Gastone, La traviata; Augustin Moser, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; Count Lerma and Herald, Don Carlo; and Pong, Turandot
ZAIKUAN SONG |
Banquo
Bass Zaikuan Song is known for his majestic tone, expressive depth, and commanding presence on the operatic stage. He has earned acclaim for his portrayals of Sarastro, Die Zauberflöte; Banquo, Macbeth; Raimondo, Lucia di Lammermoor; Commendatore, Don Giovanni; Colline, La bohème; Timur, Turandot; and both Ramfis and The King in Aida. Mr. Song has appeared with leading opera companies across the United States, including Houston Grand Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Tampa, Opera Carolina, Opera Delaware, Opera Orlando, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Southwest, Toledo Opera, and Opera on the James. His repertoire spans works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, and Donizetti, showcasing his versatility across both comic and dramatic bass roles. As a concert soloist, he has performed Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Handel’s Messiah with ensembles such as the Pacific Symphony, Fairbanks Symphony, National Philharmonic, and Duke University Chapel Music. A Metropolitan Opera National Council Midwest Region Finalist and National NATS First Prize Winner, Mr. Song holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University, as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in vocal performance from the China Conservatory of Music.
OMAR NAJMI | Malcolm
GRAMMY®-nominated tenor and composer Omar Najmi has appeared regularly with Boston Lyric Opera.
Recent BLO roles include Enoch Snow in Carousel, Valcour in The Anonymous Lover, Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, Beppe in Pagliacci, and Nick in The Handmaid’s Tale. Other recent and upcoming credits include: Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, Spoleto Festival; Simon in Adoration, LA Opera; Demler in Frederick Douglass, Odyssey Opera; Handel’s Messiah, Boston Baroque and Seattle Symphony; Ruggero in La rondine, Opera on the James; Alessandro in Il re pastore; Orpheus PDX; and Shakur in Thumbprint, Portland Opera. As a composer, Najmi was a 2025 participant in Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, where his and librettist Christine Evans’ opera Mud Girl was premiered at The Kennedy Center. His and librettist Cailin Smith’s opera The Elevator Trial will be premiered in 2026 by Boston Opera Collaborative. He has also had works commissioned by Boston Lyric Opera, Atlanta Opera, White Snake Projects, Juventas New Music Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music.
VERA SAVAGE | Lady in Waiting
Vera Savage’s recent seasons included a last-minute jump-in, at eight months pregnant, to the role of Big Stone in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice. She was also seen onstage with BLO in the role of Kate Pinkerton in the award-winning 2022 production of Madame Butterfly. Savage performs regularly with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and was recently seen as Flora in the Symphony Hall production of La traviata. She sang the role of Nada in the critically acclaimed movie of the opera Svadba, a joint production between Opera Philadelphia and Boston Lyric Opera. Savage has performed with numerous opera companies, festivals, and orchestras across the United States, including Opera Saratoga, Houston’s Opera in the Heights, Florentine Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Opera on the James, and Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Institute. She is featured on the albums Music to Hear and Who is Sylvia by the Shakespeare Projects. Savage lives in the Metrowest Boston area with her husband, three children, and corgi. She is an Associate Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
DEVON RUSSO | Doctor
Bass-baritone Devon Russo performs frequently as a soloist and ensemble member in opera, contemporary music, and early music throughout the United States and abroad. He has performed with The Metropolitan Opera, Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Lyric Opera, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, Boston Baroque, Trinity Repertory Company, the Chorus of Westerly, and the Rhode Island Civic Chorale. He is also a current choral fellow at Marsh Chapel and is the 2023 winner of the American Prize in Voice (Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Award Men’s Division). He has participated in the Internationalen Sommerakademie am Mozarteum Salzburg, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Source Song Festival, Orford Musique, Voces8 Scholars Programme, Aspen Music Festival & School, and the Boston Early Music Festival Young Artist Program. Russo earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University, his master’s degree in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and education from the University of Rhode Island. Russo is currently an Artist-Teacher in Classical Voice and director of Opera Theatre at the University of Rhode Island; he is also the Director of Choral Activities at Bryant University. devonrusso.com
LÉON JERFITA | Duncan
Léon A. Jerfita is a professional Deaf actor and Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL). He is honored to appear with Boston Lyric Opera in Macbeth as King Duncan. Recent stage credits include Professor/Wizard in The Wizard of Oz with Open Door Theater; Ensemble in Legally Blonde, Ancestors/Grim Reaper Addams in The Addams Family, and Grandpa in You Can’t Take It With You with Exit 7 Players; and General Schmitz in Seussical with Unity Players. Additional performances include Seacoal/First Watchman in Much Ado About Nothing, Adult Male in Spring Awakening, Ensemble in Sweeney Todd, Ensemble in he Wedding Singer, and Polo in Spontaneous Combustion. As Director of Artistic Sign Language, he has collaborated on The Winter’s Tale with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Once Upon a Mattress with Exit 7
Players. He has also provided ASL interpretation for She Kills Monsters with Exit 7 Players and Scheherazade & Borodin: Arabian Nights with Boston Landmarks Orchestra. Jerfita is fluent in both American and French Sign Language and trained in music and theatre interpreting through MassRID workshops. He brings to his work a passion for bridging theatre and the Deaf community, ensuring equal access to the arts.
ZIZHAO WANG | First Apparition, Assassin, Herald, Valet
Chinese-born bass-baritone Zizhao
Wang is a current Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera, where he appeared in Concert in the Courtyard, covered the Cosmic Weatherman in the world premiere of The Seasons, and performed as the Third Man/Baritone Soloist/Sailor in Carousel during the 2024/25 season. In the 2025/26 season with BLO, Wang will sing First Apparition and Assassin/Herald/Valet in Verdi’s Macbeth He also returns to Houston for the 2026 revival of The Big Swim, a co-production of Houston Grand Opera and Asia Society Texas. As a Resident Artist at the 2025 Glimmerglass Festival, he performed the roles of Bum Man, Munch, and Tree in the world premiere of The House on Mango Street, as well as covering the Sacristan and Jailer in Tosca. Wang was awarded second place in the New England Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in 2019. His recent roles include Tiger & Rooster, The Big Swim, Houston Grand Opera / Asia Society Texas; Bartolo, Le nozze di Figaro, Knoxville Opera; Martino, L’occasione fa il ladro, Opera Southwest; Colline, La bohème, New England Conservatory; Imperial Commissioner, Madama Butterfly, Virginia Opera; and Yang Yaozu, Country & Home, Chinese National Opera Festival.
ANGELA YAM | Second Apparition
Angela Yam returns as a BLO Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist for the 2025/26 Season as Second Apparition in Macbeth and Hortensia in Daughter of the Regiment, also covering Marie. Her debut as Ismene in BLO’s 2024 production of Mitridate was awarded the Boston Globe’s Best Breakout Performance in a Supporting Role and featured
on the cover of Opera Magazine. Her 2024/25 season included the title role in La Calisto, Opera Memphis; Liesgen, Coffee Cantata, Boston Baroque and North Star Baroque; Horse and Rabbit, The Big Swim, Asia Society Texas/Houston Grand Opera; and Heavenly Friend 1 and Carrie Pipperidge (cover), Carousel, Boston Lyric Opera. Past roles include Johanna, Sweeney Todd, Chautauqua Opera and Opera Saratoga; Josephine Young (cover), An American Soldier, PAC NYC; Cobweb, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Santa Fe Opera; and Diana, Iphigénie en Tauride, Boston Baroque. Yam was a New York City District winner in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and her self-directed visual recital was awarded 3rd place in the 2022 American Prize Competition. As a composer, Yam’s output includes art songs, chamber/dance works, and operas for Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, Catalyst New Music, Boston Opera Collaborative, songSLAM NYC, Robert Moses’ Kin, SMFA at Tufts, and DREAMGLOW.
JOSIE LARSEN | Third Apparition
Josie Larsen, a student of Bradley Williams, is a lyric soprano from Sammamish, Washington, joining Boston Lyric Opera as a Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist for the 2025/26 Season. She is thrilled to have performed as Annunciata in Bolcom’s Lucrezia, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Elaine in Musto’s Later the Same Evening, Rosalinda in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, and the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Additionally, she has covered Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Music Academy of the West and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro at the Aspen Music Festival. Her concert work includes performances of the Brahms Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Villa-Lobos, as well as “From Jewish Folk Poetry” as part of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Decoding Shostakovich series. Larsen completed her bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University in 2021, her master’s degree at the New England Conservatory in 2023, and her Artist Diploma also at the New England Conservatory in 2025. Larsen’s greatest joy in music is connecting people across many languages and cultures in a common musical experience.
QUINN MURPHY | Fleance
Quinn Murphy is honored to make his opera debut with Boston Lyric Opera. Regional credits include Leopoldstadt at The Huntington, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, A Christmas Carol and Full Monty at North Shore Music Theatre, and Ragtime: The Symphonic Concert at Boston Symphony Hall. Murphy has performed in youth shows with New England School of Performing Arts, North Shore Music Theatre, Greater Boston Stage Company, Stage 284, and The Five Star Theatre Company. He studies voice with Noel Smith Voice Studio.
BRADLEY VERNATTER |
Stanford Calderwood General Director & CEO
Bradley Vernatter is the Stanford Calderwood General Director & Chief Executive Officer of Boston Lyric Opera, the company’s top leadership role. Now in his 13th year with BLO and leading the company since 2021, he has guided BLO’s recovery from the pandemic, driven the funding campaign for and the move into its Opera + Community Studios, and shaped the organization’s strategic plan, which will lead BLO into its 50th anniversary season in 2026/27. Throughout his career, Vernatter has produced a range of operas, multi-disciplinary performances, and media productions. In 2020, he was recognized by Boston Business Journal as one of Boston’s “40 Under 40” rising young leaders. He was a member of the YW Boston LeadBoston 2022 cohort and served on the board of advisors at Artists For Humanity, a non-profit that empowers teens through employment in the arts. Additionally, he contributes to social entrepreneurship projects addressing access to basic services. Previously, Vernatter served as BLO’s Acting General and Artistic Director, after having served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Before BLO, he was Director of Operations for Opera Omaha and Associate Producer for the company’s ONE Festival. He held artistic and management positions with Wexford Festival Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, the Castleton (VA) Festival, and the Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Vernatter holds a Master of Business Administration from the IE-Brown MBA
program (Madrid/Providence, R.I.), a Bachelor of Arts from Otterbein College, and a certificate in professional fundraising from Boston University. He is an alumnus of the OPERA America Leadership Intensive, through which he has participated in the Civic Action Group and as a grant reviewer.
NINA YOSHIDA NELSEN | Artistic Director
Nina Yoshida Nelsen (she/her) made her Boston Lyric Opera debut in 2021 as Mamma Lucia, Cavalleria rusticana. She was featured as a singer and storyteller in the filmed documentary-concert B., which marked an artistic culmination of BLO’s “The Butterfly Process.” She joined the company as an Artistic Advisor in 2021, participating in artistic discussions and decisions, company auditions, and more. Most recently, she served as dramaturg for BLO’s widely acclaimed 2023 production of Madama Butterfly. Nelsen has performed traditional and contemporary operatic roles throughout North America and Europe, including performances with Washington National Opera, Lincoln Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and Avery Fisher Hall. She continues to perform actively with companies across the United States and Canada. Recent and upcoming work includes classic and contemporary repertoire with regional and nationally recognized opera houses. As Co-Founder of the Asian Opera Alliance, Nelsen has worked to uplift Asian artists and to advocate for greater representation within the industry. She was recently featured in TIME Magazine and was the subject of an NHK World documentary centered on Jack Perla and Jessica Murphy Moo’s opera An American Dream and Nelsen’s origination of the role of Hiroko Kobayashi at Seattle Opera. A Boston University alumna, Nelsen received undergraduate degrees in violin and psychology, and a master’s degree in voice. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts.
Brandon Cedel as The Cosmic Weatherman in Boston Lyric Opera’s The Seasons, 2025. NILE
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA CHORUS
Brett Hodgdont Chorus Director
Soprano
Sol Kim Bentley
Alisa Cassola
Melynda Davis
Josie Larsen l
Marie McCarville
Avuya Ngcaweni
Laura Santamaria l
Abigail Smith
Angela Yam l
Alto
Chihiro Asano
Margretta Beaty
Rebekah Daly
Juliette Kaoudji
Jaime Korkos
Mary Kray l
Sara Mitnik
Arielle Rogers-Wilkey
Meghan Ryan
COVER
Omar Najmi t Macduff
Tenor
Leo Balkovetz
Tyler Cesario
Michael Gonzalez
Marcus Huber
Minsun Im
Robert Kleinertz
Christopher Maher
Thomas Oesterling
Thomas Valenti
Bass
Junhan Choi t
Fred Furnari
Benedict Hensley
Taylor Horner
Craig Juricka
Jacob O’Shea
Devon Russo l
Zizhao Wang l
Ron Williams
ORCHESTRA
Violin
Annie Rabbat
Orchestra Leader
Sarah Atwood Principal
Second Violin
Stacey Alden
Heather Braun-Bakken
Heidi Braun-Hill
Colin Davis
Lisa Goddard
Rohan Gregory
Jodi Hagen
Lilit Hartunian
Yeomin Nam
Theo Ramsey
Zoya Tsvetkova
Christine Vitale
Hikaru Yonezaki
Yonah Zurr
Viola
Kenneth Stalberg
Principal
David Feltner
Donna Jerome
Abigail Kubert-Cross
Cello
Brent Selby Principal
Melanie Dyball
Steven Laven
Aron Zelkowicz
Bass
Barry Boettger
Acting Principal
Anthony D’Amico
Kevin Green
Flute
Linda Toote Principal
Oboe
Nancy Dimock Principal
Grace Shryock
English Horn
Grace Shryock
Clarinet
Jan Halloran Principal
Nicholas Brown
Bassoon
Ronald Haroutunian
Principal
Rachel Juszczak
Horn
Kevin Owen Principal
Michael Bellofatto
Whitacre Hill
Iris Rosenstein
Trumpet
Dana Oakes
Acting Principal
Jesse Levine
Trombone
Hans Bohn
Acting Principal
Alexei Doohovskoy
Cameron Owen
Cimbasso
Donald Rankin Principal
Timpani
Jeffrey Fischer Principal
Percussion
Nancy Smith
Acting Principal
William Manley
Harp
Ina Zdorovetchi
l Boston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist
t Boston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist Alum
Piccolo
Ann Bobo
Principal
PRODUCTION STAFF
Michael Janney Stage Manager
Alexandra Dietrich l Assistant Stage Director
Em Bonnici Assistant Stage Manager
Mariah Ruben Assistant Stage Manager
Liz Perlman Costume Supervisor
Emme Shaw Properties Supervisor
Jessica Elliot Associate Lighting Designer
Chloe Moore Assistant Costume Designer
Natalia St Jean Surtitle Designer & Operator
PRODUCTION CREW
TJ Willis Head Production Carpenter
Fletcher Zona First Assistant Production Carpenter
Kirt Kamniski Head Production Electrician
Sumner Ellsworth Lighting Programmer
Ari Huy First Assistant Production Electrician
Harrison Nicol First Assistant Production Electrician/ Follow Spot Operator
Dave Picot Head Production Properties
Bryan Ritchie Audio/Video Supervisor
Chris Norman Head of Production Video
Joshua DeChristopher Head of Production Audio
Dianna Reardon Head Wardrobe Supervisor
Erin Vadala First Assistant Wardrobe
Melinda Abreu Head Hair & Makeup Supervisor
Sharon Bonvini First Assistant Hair & Makeup
Jess Meyer Backstage Interpreter
Emani Dixon-Younger Backstage Interpreter
Adri Neefus Backstage Interpreter
C Ledford Backstage Interpreter
Cassie Heath Backstage Interpreter
Jessenia Kolaco Backstage Interpreter
Aimee Robinson Backstage Interpreter
MUSIC STAFF
William Manley Orchestra Contractor & Music Librarian
The artists and stage managers employed on these productions are members of the American Guild of Musical Artists. All musicians are members of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. Many of the scenic, costume, and lighting designers are members of United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Stagehands are represented by Local #11 of IATSE. Wardrobe crew are represented by Local #775 of IATSE. BLO is a member of OPERA America, the national service organization for opera in the US and Canada.
We’re almost there — help BLO close the final $1M!
We’re proud to share that over $10 million has already been raised toward Boston Lyric Opera’s $11 million goal to establish our Opera + Community Studios — BLO’s new civic arts space in Fort Point where artists and communities will create, connect, and collaborate. Opera + Community Studios is more than a building — it’s a civic investment in Boston’s cultural future.
Help BLO raise the final $1 million to bring this shared arts space to life by 2026.
Scan the QR code to make a donation
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has contributed to the development of the Opera + Community Studios through your presence and your gifts. Your generosity is deeply appreciated.
$1,000,000+
Anonymous Foundation
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Movement Arts Creation Studio
Lise Olney & Tim Fulham
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Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture
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Rick Burnes
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Allison Ryder & David Jones
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Bradley Vernatter
$10,000-$24,999
Robert Eastman
Andrew L. Eisenberg & John Vetrano
Flansburgh Architects
Jack D. Gorman
Sylvia Han & Bruce Rubenstein
Kate Meany
Mr. Carl Rosenberg
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Courtney Keller
Lynne L. Levitsky, MD &
Sidney Levitsky, MD
Gregory E. Moore & Wynne W. Szeto
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Donations as of September 29, 2025
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Boston Lyric Opera extends its gratitude to the following vendors, partners, individuals, community organizations, and school partners for their extraordinary courtesy in making our 2025/26 Season possible:
4Wall Entertainment | Rui Alves, Mike Texeira
Acentech, Inc. | Carl Rosenberg, Jonah Sacks, Khaleela Zaman
Allison Voth
American Repertory Theater
Artists for Humanity
ArtsBoston
Arts Connect International
ArtsEmerson
Ball Square Films | Kathy Wittman
Beth Harris | Fortepiano Tuner
Boston Centers for Youth & Families
Boston Children’s Museum
Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music
Boston Harbor Now
Boston Properties
Boston Public Library
Boston Public Schools Visual & Performing Arts Office
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston University | College of Fine Arts
C3 Commercial Construction Consulting, Inc. | Doug Anderson
Capron Lighting & Sound Co. | Jeff Antonellis, Ryan Frost
Cartage America | Tim Riley
The Catered Affair
Charlestown Navy Yard
City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP | Andrew Eisenberg
Costume Works, Inc. | Liz Perlman
Cultural Equity Incubator
Devon Lumber
Dynamix, Inc.
East Cambridge Piano | James Nicoloro
Emerson College
Emmanuel Music
First Parish Brookline
Flansburgh Architects
Fly Over the City
The Friends of Titus Sparrow Park
Furnished Quarters
GBH
Gilbane Building Company
Groundwater Arts
HallKeen Management | Jennifer Zarrella, Randy Pelletier
Hibernian Hall | Harris Lefteri
HILB Group
HUB International
HYM Investment Group
IATSE Local #11 JACET | Colleen Glynn
InnoPsych, Inc. | Dr. Charmain Jackman
Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción
Janet Buecker
JCA Arts Marketing
Jim Jenson
JKJ Retirement Services | Ben Hall, Jack McDonald
Les Éditions Buissonnières
Music Publishing
Louis A. Gentile Piano Service
MASARY Studios
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Megan Gilron | Staging Research
Midway Artist Studios | Raber Umphenour, Maria Dinwoodie
Mike Marchetti
Mike Mejia
Andrew Motta
Museum of Science
Myles Standish Business
Condominiums
National Parks of Boston
NEPS Primary Freight
New England Conservatory of Music
Nile Scott Studios
Production Advantage
ProPrint
Robert Silman Associates
Structural Engineers | Ben Rosenberg, Steven Au Yeung
The Rose Kennedy Greenway
Rosebrand, Inc.
Ryder Transportation
Sew What, Inc. | Andrea Fraser
Seyfarth Shaw, LLP |
Brian Michaelis
Sika Consulting | Kemarah Sika
Smartpress
SoWa Boston
Starburst Printing & Graphics, Inc.
Stone Living Lab
Tarlow, Breed, Hart & Rodgers, P.C. | Michael Radin
TDF | Theatre Development Fund
Tessitura
Think Outside The Vox
Truro Historical Society
The Trustees of Reservations
United Parish Brookline
United Staging & Rigging | Eric Frishman
Vantage Technology Consulting Group | Geoffrey Tritsch
Wetherbree Creative | Wendy Wetherbee
WBUR
YW Boston | Anouska Bhattacharyya
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA STAFF
LEADERSHIP
Bradley Vernatter Stanford Calderwood
General Director & Chief Executive Officer
Nina Yoshida Nelsen Artistic Director
David Angus Music Director
Anne Bogart Artistic Associate
Vimbayi Kaziboni Artistic Advisor
ARTISTIC & COMMUNITY
Ben Richter Senior Director of Producing Operations
Lisa Hanson Director of Producing Operations
Roxanna Myhrum Director of Programs & Events
Nancy McDonald Director of Business Operations
Morgan Beckford Director of Learning
Brett Hodgdon Head of Music & Chorus Director
Kimberly Sabio Manager of Artistic Operations
Natalie Main Artistic Coordinator
Laura Hassell Interim Production Manager
Ian Rouillard Assistant Director of Production
Michael Janney Production Associate
V Brancazio Programs & Events Manager
Laura Nevitt Resident Teaching Artist
Kylie Fletcher Resident Teaching Artist
Ji Yung Lee Coach/Pianist
Brendon Shapiro Coach/Pianist
Douglas Sumi Coach/Pianist
ADMINISTRATION
Lizabeth Malanga Senior Director of Administration
Caterina Pina Director of People Operations
Eboni Bell Executive Administrator
Erika Dooley Senior Office Administrator
FINANCE
Jarrell Perkins Chief Financial Officer
Michelle Rawding Finance Manager
PHILANTHROPY
Ishan Johnson Chief Philanthropy Advisor
Shelly Cornell Senior Philanthropy Advisor
Laura Jekel Director of Annual Giving & Philanthropy
Katherine Leary Prospect Researcher
Randy Biagas-Hill Philanthropy Coordinator
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Julia Propp Senior Director of External Affairs
Alfredo Muñoz Director of Marketing & Sales
Ryan Cannister Marketing & Communications Manager
Hannah Cassell CRM & Database Administrator
Amy Advocat Manager of Institutional Communications & Philanthropy
Charley Gibson Audience Services Manager
Lauren Florek Senior Patron Services Coordinator
Natalia St Jean Editorial Coordinator
Wren Rodziewicz Database Coordinator
Natalie Barnaby Patron Services Associate
Nicole DeGrandpre Marketing Associate
JMK PR Public Relations
Incontrera Consulting Social Media
Leapfrog Arts Graphic Design
Mouth Media Website
JCA Consulting CRM Applications
Russell Philanthropies Consultant
Phillip C. Song, MD Consulting Laryngologist
Division Chief of Laryngology at Massachusetts
Eye and Ear
Dr. Charmain Jackman
Mental Health & Wellbeing Consultant | InnoPsych
Art & Soul Consulting Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
EMERITUS ARTISTS
John Conklin Artistic Advisor & Designer Emeritus u
As of September 19, 2025
NILE
We are honored to recognize our donors who generously support Boston Lyric Opera through gifts to our annual fund and The Opera Gala. We are deeply grateful for the following contributions made to BLO between July 1, 2024 and July 15, 2025. Our fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, and we list donors at the level of their total giving made during a fiscal year — either this fiscal year or last — whichever is highest.
MEMBERS ($100 - $2,999) | We are grateful for the commitment of our members, the largest community of supporters at Boston Lyric Opera. Members enjoy opportunities to explore opera and engage with others who share their passion through invitations to special events and other exciting benefits.
ORFEO SOCIETY ($3,000 +) | The Orfeo Society supports Boston Lyric Opera in all our endeavors, from stage to film to community programs. These aficionados come together regularly to hear artists perform and to learn about our groundbreaking productions from the creative teams, all while providing invaluable direct support to BLO.
GOLDOVSKY SOCIETY | Membership is given in recognition of those who have made a provision in a will, living trust, deferred gift plan, or retirement plan that will benefit Boston Lyric Opera. For more information or to make a gift, please contact Ishan Johnson, Chief Philanthropy Advisor, at ijohnson@blo.org or 617.702.8961.
CRESCENDO ($100,000+)
Anonymous Foundation (1)
Barr Foundation
Linda Cabot Black* §
Willa* & Taylor Bodman l
Katie & Paul Buttenwieser
Gerard & Sherryl Cohen
Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP
Alicia M. Cooney* & Stephen Quigley § l
Wayne Davis* & Ann Merrifield § l
Andrew L. Eisenberg* & John Vetrano l
Gardner Hendrie
Mattina R. Proctor Foundation
Christine & Michael Puzo* § l
David W. Scudder & Betsy Ridge § l
Mr.* & Mrs. Ray Stata l
VIVACE ($50,000 - $99,999)
Anonymous (1)
Rick Burnes* §
Miguel* & Suki de Bragança l
ALLEGRO ($10,000 - $24,999)
Anonymous (3)
The Acorn Foundation
Jane & Steven Akin
BPS Arts Expansion Fund at EdVestors
Ms. Ellen Cabot* l
Alberto Cribiore & Kristin Sebastian
Priscilla Deck & Sean Kelly
Susan Denison
Robert Eastman* § l
Estate of Emily C. Hood u
John H. Deknatel & Carol M. Taylor
Barbara & Amos Hostetter
Susan W. Jacobs* § l
Marilee Wheeler Trust
Charitable Fund
Abigail B. Mason* §
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Miss Wallace Minot Leonard Foundation
The Paul & Sandra Montrone Family
Mrs. E. Lee Perry
Winfield* & Linda Perry l
The Poduska Family Foundation
Helen Pounds
Stephen* & Geraldine Ricci l
Wendy Shattuck & Sam Plimpton §
PRESTO ($25,000 - $49,999)
Anonymous (1)
Mr. John W. Brewer
Cabot Family Charitable Trust
Mr. Mark H. Dalzell
Alan & Lisa Dynner §
Jack D. Gorman* l
Frank Graves & Christine Dugan
Kathy & Ron Groves
The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation
HarborOne Bank
Mr. & Mrs. John Henn §
Mimi Hewlett §
Mr. Keith Higgins
Lisa Hillenbrand* l
Mr. u & Mrs. Edward C. Johnson
Amelia* & Joshua Katzen
Kristine A. Moyer Higgins & Robert F. Higgins
Maria Krokidas* & Bruce Bullen l
John M. Loder* l
Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture
David & Janet McCue
Anne M. Morgan* l
Elaine Murphy, in memory of Buck Haberkorn l
Lise Olney & Tim Fulham* l
Mr. & Mrs. A. Neil Pappalardo*
Ms. Maria Park
Janet & Irv Plotkin* § l
Polaris Capital Management
William & Lia Poorvu
Erinn Rhodes & Jason Rhodes
Allison Ryder* & David Jones
Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation
Milling Kinard
Janika* & George LeMaitre
Lincoln & Therese Filene Foundation
Dr. Joseph & Mrs. Anita Loscalzo* l MEDITECH
Jo Frances Meyer* & Carl Herbert
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Olney III
Paul & Edith Babson Foundation
Melinda & James Rabb l
Peter & Suzanne Read §
Mr.* & Mrs. Vincent & Robin Rougeau l
Barbara* & Andrew Senchak
Rumena & Alexander Senchak* l
Andrew Sherman & Russ López* § l
Larry* & Beverly St. Clair l
Andrew Szentgyorgyi, Nicholas Szentgyorgyi & Nancy Brickhouse
Bradley Vernatter
Dr. Robert Walsh* & Lydia Kenton Walsh* l
Peter J. Wender* § l
Jerry Wheelock & Elizabeth Wood
George* & Moira Yip
Ms. Tania Zouikin* §
ADAGIO ($5,000 - $9,999)
Anonymous (2)
Nancy Altschuler
Drs. Susan E. Bennett* & Gerald B. Pier l
Kathy Boyce
Ms. Mei Po Cheung
Mr. Lawrence M. DeVito* § l
Ms. JoAnne Dickinson* l
Laura Dike & Vaughn Miller*
Martin Elvis & Giuseppina Fabbiano §
Kathryn G. Freed, in memory of Dean & Patti Freed §
Gilbane Building Company
Dr. Kurt D. Gress & Mr. Samuel Y. Parkinson
Nick & Marjorie Greville
Mr. Joseph Hammer §
Sylvia Han* & Bruce Rubenstein l
David Hoffman* & Deborah Friedman
Morton Hoffman, in loving memory of Sandy Hoffman u
Amy Hunter* & Steven Maguire § l
Ms. Louise Johnson*
Ellen & Robert Kaplan §
Butler & Lois Lampson
Drs. Lynne* & Sidney Levitsky
Liana Enterprises
Nagesh Mahanthappa & Valentine Talland
Ms. M. Lynne Markus* §
Kathryn McDaniel* l
Jillian* & Andrew McGrath
Kate Meany* l
Gregory E. Moore & Wynne W. Szeto* l
Jane Pisciottoli Papa* § l
Dr. Douglas Reeves
Mr. Carl Rosenberg*
Dr. Jordan S. Ruboy
Charitable Fund § u
Russell Philanthropies
Stephen & Peg Senturia l
R. S. Steinberg
Ms. Tricia Swift* l
Mr.* & Mrs. Frank Tempesta l
Dr. Nelson Thaemert &
Mr. Brian Gokey l
Mr. Richard Trant*
Ms. Amy Tsurumi* l
Yin-Yin Wang* l
GRAZIOSO ($3,000 - $4,999)
Anonymous, in memory of James W. Boynton
Mr. Peter Ambler & Ms. Lindsay Miller
Michael Barza & Judith Robinson §
Tamara P. & Charles H. Davis II §
Mr. & Mrs. Dozier Gardner
Anne Giudice
David Kirk l
Dr. Maydee G. Lande, in memory of her father
Alice Levine & Paul Weissman
Shari & Christopher Noe
Anthony & Katharine Pell
Nick Russo
Mr. John Stevens & Ms. Virginia McIntyre
Ernst Ter Haar
ADVOCATE ($1,000 - $2,999)
Anonymous (7)
Mr. Bernard Aserkoff
Ms. Nesli Basgoz
John & Molly Beard
John Belchers
Ms. Jane Carr & Mr. Andrew Hertig
Michael & Bernie Caruso, in honor of Barbara Case Senchak
Ms. Nina Cohen
Pamela & Belden Daniels
Mr. Mark Donohoe
Ms. Priscilla Douglas
Zach Durant-Emmons & Willis Emmons
Edmund & Betsy Cabot Charitable Foundation
Eran & Yukiko Egozy
Johannes Eijmberts & Wiebe Tinga
Eli Lilly & Company Foundation
Ms. Kathleen Emrich & Mr. Robert Sherwood
Assia Khellaf Eyüboglu & Vedat Eyüboglu
Lawrence & Atsuko Fish
Christopher & Hilary Gabrieli
Nathaniel & Nancy Gardiner
Mrs. G. Peabody Gardner
Melissa Gilliam & William Grobman
Bill Glazer & Tom Smith, in honor of Russ López & Andrew Sherman
Dr. David Golan & Dr. Laura Green
Dr. Joan Goldberg
Barbara & Steve Grossman
HarborOne Foundation
Dr. Robert J. Henry, M.D.
Art & Eloise Hodges
Mr. Craig S. Hughes
Susan Graham Johnston
Mr. Adrian Jones
Eva R. Karger §
Stan & Sandy Keller
Helen Kim & Colin Warwick
Ms. Lucy LaFleche
Pam Lassiter
Paul Lee
Joe & Pam LoDato §
Mr. Joseph Mari
Rumiko Mizuuchi-Adamowicz & Laurent Adamowicz
Mary & Sherif Nada §
Esther Nelson & Bernd Ulken
Michael Raizman
Art & Elaine Robins
Elizabeth Ross & William O’Reilly
John Sasso & Mary Jo Adams
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Schechter
Mr. & Mrs. John Sculley
Mrs. Sarah D. Billinghurst Solomon
Myles Striar
Rev. Nancy Taylor
Ms. Melissa Tully
Ms. Paula Tyack
Mrs. Wat Tyler
Mary Verhage
Roderick J. Wagner
Mr. Michael Wyzga & Ms. Judy Ozbun
Michael Young
Albert & Judith Zabin
SUSTAINER ($500 - $999)
Anonymous (10)
Mr. John Barstow & Ms. Eugenia Ware
Dr. Nancy Berkowitz
Roger Berman
Garen Bohlin & Diana Sorensen
Ms. Bettina Burr, in honor of Irv Plotkin
Tip & Nino Catalano
James F. Crowley, Jr.
Amy & Ethan d’Ablemont Burnes
Anne Lyons Dolan, in memory of Susan Eastman §
Elaine Epstein & Jim Krachey
Joanna Humphrey Flynn & Bryan Flynn
Ms. Christine G. Hannon
Fred Hoppin
Yvonne Kwauk & Bill Reinfeld
Ricardo & Marla Lewitus
Eric Mankin
John & Christina McCormick
Silvio Micali & Daniela Caruso-Micali
Mr. William Pananos
John Parisi
Mr. Gene Pokorny
Mr. Jack Reynolds, in memory of
Stevie Giacalone
Patricia Romeo-Gilbert
Jay Scheib
Patrick Seaver
Sanjay & Amanda Talluri
Ann B. Teixeira
Steve Weiner & Don Cornuet
Angela & Christopher Winchenbaugh
Mr. & Ms. Douglas Woodlock
Joan & Michael Yogg
Harvey Young & Heather Schoenfeld
CONTRIBUTOR ($250-$499)
Anonymous (11)
Anonymous, in honor of Susan Eastman
Anonymous, in honor of Chris Noe
Dean Anderson & Jean Scarrow
Camille Batarekh & Ann O’Rourke
C. Anthony Broh & Jennifer L. Hochschild
Rebecca Bowen & Toby Bottorf
Ms. Janet Buecker
Pauline Ho Bynum
Sangita Chandra
Connie Chin
Sharon Daniels
Ms. Kathryn Disney
Jack Fabiano & Noel McCoy
Prof. James A. Glazier
Sylvia Hammer
Mr. & Mrs. James J. Harper
Yael & Eliot Heher
Anneliese Henderson
William Hess, in honor of Thomas Hess
Thomas & Sonja Ellingson Hout
Wendy Hull
Elinore & Herbert Kagan
Courtney Keller §
Mr. Anthony & Mrs. Susan Kiernan
Blade Kotelly
Robert W. Kruszyna §
Marilyn Levitt & Andrew Friedland
York Lo & Rebecca Pearson Lo
Mr. Merrill Mack
Quinn MacKenzie
Andrew Magdanz & Susan Shapiro Magdanz
Ms. Deena Matowik
Marc Maxwell, in honor of Russ López & Andrew Sherman
Margaret McDormand, in memory of Anna Elizabeth McDormand
Evelyn McFadden, in memory of George Seaman
Ms. Virginia Meany
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
Ms. Diane Ota
Paul Hart Miller Foundation
Luke & Susie Perry
Ted Pietras
Ms. Helen R. Pillsbury
R. Lynn Rardin & Lynne A. O’Connell
Jim & Sandy Righter
Robert & Iris Fanger Family Foundation
Susan Rodgerson*
Nicholas G. Russell
Mr. Frank Santangelo
John & Ruth Schey
Schrupka Fund
Lauren Schultes
Mr. Robert Shapiro
Michael Skatrud
Otto & Dorothy Solbrig
John & Mary Tarvin
Glen & Andrea Urban
Steve Walch & Linda Williams
Linda & Harvey Weiner
Polly Pitt Whiteside, in honor of Richard Trant
Q Board Member
l Lyric Circle Member § Goldovsky Society Member
u Deceased
Boston Lyric Opera’s 2025/26 season is supported in part by the Barr Foundation, The HarborOne Foundation, the Lincoln and Therese Filene Foundation, the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation, Cabot Family Charitable Trust, Miss Wallace Minot Leonard Foundation, the Poduska Family Foundation, BPS Arts Expansion at EdVestors, the Paul & Edith Babson Foundation, Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation, OPERA America, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, and Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Corporate sponsors include HarborOne Bank, MEDITECH, Analog Devices Inc., Polaris Capital Management, Gilbane Building Company, and Flansburgh Architects. Boston Lyric Opera also acknowledges the incredible support of its Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and other donors and patrons.
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GET AN INSIDER’S LOOK BEYOND THE STAGE: BLO.ORG/SEASON
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PRE-SHOW OPERA LECTURES
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STREET STAGE: SUMMER 2025 CONCERT IN THE COURTYARD
OPERA CREATION BOOT CAMP
OPERA ON TOUR: DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT
OPERA NIGHT AT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP
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• Donations directly impact the core facets of BLO: community & education programs, new works, and increasing opera accessibility.
• BLO puts on creative, outside-the-box productions that attract thousands of operagoers and reach hundreds of students through our education initiatives each year.
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Anya Matanovič as Carrie and Omar Najmi as Enoch in BLO’s 2025 production of Carousel
EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE
106 BOYLSTON STREET | EMERSONCOLONIALTHEATRE.COM
All performances begin on time. To respect the enjoyment of others, BLO observes a no-late seating policy. While we understand that traffic conditions, public transportation, weather, and other factors can have unexpected effects on your arrival, we wish to minimize disruptions for our seated patrons and for our artists on stage. Additionally, if you must leave during the performance, reentry may be prohibited.
As a courtesy to the artists and for the comfort of those around you, please turn off mobile phones, watch alarms, and other devices with audible signals prior to the start of the performance. The use of cameras or recording devices in the theater is strictly prohibited. For BLO productions & subscriptions, visit BLO.org or call BLO Audience Services at 617.542.6772, MON-FRI | 10-5.
Wheelchair access is available at the main entrance to the building on Boylston Street. Please request wheelchair seating from a sales representative at time of purchase. Designated ADA seating locations are located on the Orchestra level of the theatre. An ADA accessible restroom is also located on the Orchestra level. There is no elevator access in the building. Please contact us at 888.616.0272 or email infocolonial@atgentertainment.com for assistance.
Mask wearing is no longer required for most performances & events, but strongly encouraged at all times while in the theater. For Emerson’s policies, go to artsemerson.org/visit/public-health.
