Daughter of the Regiment | Digital Playbill

APR 24 - MAY 3, 2026 Emerson Colonial Theatre

DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT Music by

GAETANO DONIZETTI Libretto by

JULES-HENRI VERNOY DE SAINT-GEORGES & JEAN-FRANÇOIS BAYARD New English dialogue by

KIRSTEN GREENIDGE Conductor

KELLY KUO

Stage Director

JOHN DE LOS SANTOS

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.

Learn more about Daughter of the Regiment t SCAN to open BLO’s Daughter of the Regiment Opera Guide

t SCAN to open BLO’s Daughter of the Regiment Pre-Show Lecture

Join us after curtain on APR 26 & MAY 1 for talkbacks.

PROGRAM CONTENTS

Cast of BLO’s production of Macbeth, 2025.

NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS

Welcome..............................................................................................................................................................1 Upcoming BLO Events.....................................................................................................................................2 Board of Directors & Advisors........................................................................................................................4 In Memoriam......................................................................................................................................................6 Creative Team, Cast, Synopsis, & About This Production.......................................................................8 Anne Bogart: The Who-ness of Marie........................................................................................................ 12 Meet the Artists.............................................................................................................................................. 16 Artistic & Production Personnel................................................................................................................. 25 Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................................... 26 BLO Staff........................................................................................................................................................ 27 Opera + Community Studios Donors......................................................................................................... 28 Donors & Institutional Partners..................................................................................................................30 Venue Information.......................................................................................................................................... 37

WELCOME TO DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT! Dear Friends of the Opera,

From the

Directors

As we transition from our 2025/26 Season into our 18-month celebration of Boston Lyric Opera’s 50th anniversary, our commitment to making opera part of civic life is more vital than ever. This spring, that commitment takes center stage with Daughter of the Regiment — an anchor in BLO’s “Voices of Revolution” initiative for America’s 250th. We are grateful to our statewide partners at MA250 and Everyone250, along with the educators, families, neighbors, and artists who make these gatherings meaningful.

Comedy has always been quietly revolutionary. It can couch critiques in laughter, lift up new ideas in accessible ways, and — sometimes — simply offer joy when it’s needed most. In uncertain times, humor becomes a form of resilience. And opera, at its best, is fun. Daughter of the Regiment is, at its core, a comedy and a love story. While military characters feature heavily in this opera, war and its consequences play second fiddle to individual life stories. It’s easy to imagine the soldiers of the Twenty-First, who love and look after Marie — their adopted “daughter” — as tradespeople, farmers, folks from all walks of life, like many who fought for American independence. What shines most is their camaraderie, their good cheer, and their fierce loyalty. Donizetti’s original — and tonight’s new production — give us a radical happy ending: not one defined by wealth or status, but instead the triumph of true love achieved through the solidarity of chosen family.

That spirit of belonging runs through everything BLO does. We create opera with communities, not just for them — making the experience more participatory, more connected, and more relevant to the world around us. This season alone, BLO will reach more than 4,500 young people through free opera-based youth, school, and community programs. Through this work, students build skills in selfexpression, collaboration, and lifting their voices — and the voices of others — together.

And the journey continues: join us this summer for She Was There, a two-day event celebrating women whose stories shaped the Revolution, in partnership with Castle of our Skins, Everyone250, MA250, the Museum of African American History, Roxbury International Film Festival, and the West End Museum, made possible in part by a civic practice grant from OPERA America’s Opera Fund.

Moments like these — onstage and in community — are only possible because people like you choose to be part of them. From all of us at BLO, thank you for being here with us. As our season draws to a close, your support helps sustain free and low-barrier performances, school tours, community partnerships, and more — keeping revolutionary voices singing across the region.

With gratitude,

Bradley Vernatter

Nina Yoshida Nelsen

Stanford Calderwood General Director & CEO

Artistic Director

BLO | SPRING 2026

1

UPCOMING BLO EVENTS JUN 13 SHE WAS THERE: FILM SCREENING & PANEL DISCUSSION The West End Museum

JUN 14 SHE WAS THERE : CONCERT & RECEPTION Museum of African American History

BOLDNESS

JUN - SEP BLO STREET STAGE Multiple locations

AUG 10 - 14 OPERA KIDS Powers Music School

AUG 28 FROM TOP: PHOTO BY NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS | PHOTO BY MICHAEL J. LUTCH

CONCERT IN THE COURTYARD BPL Central Branch

SEP 25 OCT 4 WILLIAM TELL Emerson Colonial Theatre

OCT 16 THE OPERA GALA Opera + Community Studios

CONNECTION EXPERIENCE BLO’S VALUES IN ACTION: Learn more about BLO’s history, mission, values, strategic plan, and more by scanning this QR code or visiting us at: BLO.org/about Page 2, from top: Mitridate (2024) and Noah's Flood (2025).

For event details, visit blo.org/events

2

BLO | SPRING 2026

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

3

BLO | SPRING 2026

FROM TOP: PHOTOS BY BLO STAFF | PHOTO BY NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS

LEARNING

BELONGING

A MESSAGE FROM BLO’S BOARD CHAIR & BOARD PRESIDENT Dear Friends, On behalf of BLO’s Board of Directors and Board of Advisors, welcome to Daughter of the Regiment. We are delighted to have you back at the Emerson Colonial Theatre with a fresh and joyful take on one of opera’s most beloved comedies.

This production arrives at a meaningful moment. As our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of American independence, Boston Lyric Opera is launching “Voices of Revolution,” an initiative that brings opera into civic celebrations unfolding across the country, with programming that is distinctly American and directly connected to our community.

In this spirit, BLO’s new production of Daughter of the Regiment takes the story to Revolutionary-era Boston with a revised libretto by Boston-native playwright Kirsten Greenidge — inspired by the remarkable story of Massachusetts native Deborah Sampson, one of the few women known to have fought in the Continental Army. The result is a production that maintains the opera’s humor, warmth, and virtuosic brilliance while placing it within a hyperlocal context.

This performance is also the beginning of a larger civic conversation that we hope you will continue with us. In June, BLO’s “Voices of Revolution” initiative partners us with Castle of Our Skins for She Was There, a two-day event that explores the stories of Black revolutionary women whose contributions have too often been absent from our shared history.

At Boston Lyric Opera, we believe opera is not only a place for beauty and artistry, but also a space for reflection, curiosity, and connection. We hope that you enjoy the exuberance of Daughter of the Regiment, and we invite you to join us in the months ahead as “Voices of Revolution” continues to explore, honor, and celebrate the many voices that shape our past and guide our future. And we hope that you will join us next season as BLO celebrates its 50th Anniversary and the impact opera has on our communities.

Thank you for being here,

Alicia M. Cooney

Wayne C. Davis

Board Chair

Board President

4

BLO | SPRING 2026

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

As of January 30, 2026

Michael Puzo Immediate Past Board Chair Bradley Vernatter Ex Officio | Stanford Calderwood General Director & CEO

Timothy Fulham Christine Goerke Jack Gorman Frank Graves Lisa Hillenbrand Jennifer Ritvo Hughes Amelia Welt Katzen Sally Kornbluth Maria J. Krokidas John Loder Abigail B. Mason Jo Frances Meyer Anne M. Morgan

Dr. Susan E. Bennett Brian Gokey Richard M. Burnes, Jr. Sylvia Han Ellie Cabot David Hoffman Carole Charnow Amy Hunter Carol Deane Louise Johnson Larry DeVito Janika LeMaitre JoAnne Walton Lynne Levitsky Dickinson Anita Loscalzo Laura Dike Kathryn McDaniel Robert Eastman Jillian McGrath Willis Emmons Kate Meany

A. Neil Pappalardou Maria Park Winfield Perry Susan Rodgerson Vincent D. Rougeau Alex Senchak Peter Wender George Yip

Elaine Murphy Jane Pisciottoli Papa Bill Poduska Susanne Potts Stephen Ricci Carl Rosenberg Allison Ryder Simone Santiago Barbara Senchak Tricia Swift Wynne Szeto

Leadership Council David Scudder Chair Steven P. Akin Linda Cabot Black Willa Bodman Paul Montrone Ray Stata Emeriti Steven P. Akin J.P. Bargeru Horace H. Irvine IIu Sherif A. Nada E. Lee Perryu

Frank Tempesta Richard Trant Amy Tsurumi Archana Venkataraman Robert Walsh Yin-Yin Wang Tania Zouikin

uDeceased

BLO | SPRING 2026

NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS

MEMBERS MAKE OPERA OPEN TO ALL — OPERA BLO fueling new productions, nurturing artists, and free performances to communities across OPENS bringing Greater Boston. Join today and be part of a movement WITH that keeps opera vibrant, relevant, and accessible.

YOU. Make your gift at BLO.org/Membership 5

A. Neil Pappalardo A. Neil Pappalardo served on Boston Lyric Opera’s Board of Directors since the spring of 2000. During his many years of service, Neil was a steadfast champion of BLO, leading with integrity, generosity, and genuine curiosity. Alongside his wife, Jane, he was a devoted and long-term supporter of the company. Additionally, through his company, MEDITECH, Neil helped establish one of BLO’s most enduring partnerships — our longest-standing corporate donor — demonstrating a commitment to the arts that extended well beyond his personal involvement. We remember Neil fondly at performances, where he was a familiar and enthusiastic presence for many years, always engaged and eager to support our work. He will be greatly missed as a Board member and friend to BLO.

Richard Milstein Richard served on BLO’s Board of Oveseers from 2001 to 2008. His leadership and support of BLO reflected a deep commitment to opera, arts education, and the Greater Boston community. A lawyer and philanthropist, Richard was a visionary in the field of continuing legal education and served on the boards of numerous Massachusetts cultural institutions. We are profoundly grateful for his many contributions and lasting impact at BLO and beyond, and we mourn the loss of a remarkable member of our community.

Kenneth Stalberg Kenneth “Ken” Stalberg was the BLO Orchestra’s Principal Violist, performing with the orchestra for 43 years. For nearly five decades, he was a steady and respected presence in Boston's musical community as a performer and teacher, known for his dedication, musicianship, and sharp sense of humor. Since 1976, Ken was an active freelance musician in the Boston area, performing with leading ensembles including the Boston Ballet Orchestra; Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra; Boston Lyric Opera; Boston Landmarks Orchestra; and the Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms Society. At the time of his passing, he served as Principal Viola of the latter three orchestras. Since 1991, Ken taught violin and viola students ages four through adult in his home studio, guiding hundreds over the years.

Colleagues describe Ken as a crucial member of every ensemble he joined, consistently doing more than was required because he cared that everything be done as well as possible. Ken will be deeply missed by the BLO community, particularly by his friends and colleagues in the BLO Orchestra.

Kathleen Boyce Kathy was a lifelong educator of learners with disabilities, a performing arts enthusiast and patron, and an opera lover. She sang alto in choirs around Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including many summers with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. A subscriber and avid supporter of Boston Lyric Opera, Kathy was a beloved member of our community. We enjoyed a special moment with her last season, when she attended a rehearsal of BLO’s 2025 production of Carousel, which was her first show as a stage manager with the student-run theatre group “Silver Masque” at Northeastern University. We will miss her faithful and enthusiastic attendance at BLO with her friends and family.

6

BLO | SPRING 2026

Opera Kids Co-hosted with Powers Music School

Come learn how an opera is made, then create your own!

Registration is now open!

Scan code for more details & to register via the Powers Music School website.

DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT Music by

GAETANO DONIZETTI Libretto by

JULES-HENRI VERNOY DE SAINT-GEORGES & JEAN-FRANÇOIS BAYARD Performed in French and English with English surtitles David Angus, BLO Music Director

Conductor KELLY KUO* Stage Director & Choreographer JOHN DE LOS SANTOS* New English Dialogue

KIRSTEN GREENIDGE Set Designer LILIANA DUQUE PIÑEIRO* Costume Designer OANA BOTEZ*

2025/26 Season Sponsor Linda Cabot Black

Lighting Designer REZA BEHJAT*

PERFORMANCES

Wig & Makeup Designer EARON CHEW NEALEY

FRI, APR 24 | 7:30PM SUN, APR 26 | 3:00PM FRI, MAY 1 | 7:30PM SUN, MAY 3 | 3:00PM Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes, with one 20-minute intermission

Intimacy Director/Fight Choreographer ANGIE JEPSON Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra ANNIE RABBAT Orchestra Leader Boston Lyric Opera Chorus BRETT HODGDON t Chorus Director

EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE 106 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116

Rehearsal Coach/Pianist JI YUNG LEE

W Boston Lyric Opera Debut

The participation of Kirsten Greenidge is supported in part by an anonymous donor.

C Boston Lyric Opera Principal Debut l Boston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin

Emerging Artist

t B oston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin

Emerging Artist Alum

8

CREATIVE TEAM

BLO | SPRING 2026

Diction Coach LILY SMITHW

Performed in English based on the G. Schirmer, Inc. Translation by Ruth & Thomas Martin.

Revised for this production by John de los Santos.

CAST

SYNOPSIS

Marie BRENDA RAE

Marie was orphaned on a battlefield and adopted by a regiment of soldiers, growing up under their protection. Now a young woman working alongside them, she has fallen in love with Tonio, who saved her life the day they met.

Her affectionate but overprotective “fathers” in the regiment initially disapprove, so Tonio joins the regiment to win them over. All seems well until the Widow Birkenfeld — who has fallen on hard times — arrives, claiming that she is Marie’s long-lost aunt, and whisks her off to learn how to be “a proper lady.” Irrepressible and tomboyish Marie struggles to adapt to a life of navigating high-society manners and expectations, singing lessons, and — worst of all — a looming arranged marriage, but Tonio and the regiment are determined to save the day.

Tonio SPENCER BRITTEN* Colonel Sulpice KENNETH KELLOGG* Widow Birkenfeld SANDRA PIQUES EDDY Hortensia ANGELA YAMl The Duchess Crakenthorpe NEAL FERREIRAt Corporal DEVON RUSSOl

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION This production of Daughter of the Regiment moves the story from the Swiss Tyrol region during the Napoleonic Wars to colonial Boston during the American Revolution.

The plotline itself remains very similar to that of the original opera, with some details adjusted. For example, in a brief tableau added to the beginning, the orphaned Marie is found by Sulpice beneath the Liberty Tree that once stood on Boston Common.

The grown-up Marie reads Phillis Wheatley and other authors contemporary to colonial America. While Boston Lyric Opera’s version of Marie draws inspiration from Deborah Sampson — the Massachusetts native who dressed as a man to serve in the Continental Army — this production is not a biographical or historical representation of true events.

It remains, at heart, a comedy.

Playwright Kirsten Greenidge — who collaborated with BLO on The Anonymous Lover in 2024 — has created a new English dialogue for the spoken French scenes that connect sung portions of the opera. Most of this production is sung in English, with a few notable exceptions that use the original French. This is done intentionally: this version of Tonio, Marie’s lover, is of French origin and therefore initially considered an outsider by the American regiment — until he is able to win them over.

For more context about this production, check out the articles in our Opera Guide!

You can access the Guide via the QR code on the inside front cover of this playbill.

BLO | SPRING 2026

9

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

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.

This series offers BLO’s Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists and BCB voice students unparalleled access to groundbreaking perspectives, fostering the next generation of opera’s innovators.

Thank you to David & Janet McCue for their generous support of BLO in presenting the Opera Innovators Series this season.

LEARN MORE

The Who-ness of Marie

by Anne Bogart, BLO Artistic Associate

I

n 1782, a young Massachusetts farm woman bound her chest, took the name of Robert Shirtliff, and walked into a recruiting office to enlist in George Washington’s Continental Army.

For seventeen months, Deborah Sampson lived and fought as a man; her survival and service depended upon a continuous, disciplined act of performance, of recalibrating gesture, stance, and speech in ways that convinced officers, comrades, and enemies alike. Her story is not just an anecdote of patriotic courage; it reveals how a person might reshape what is visible and possible, testing and adjusting her own “who” in order to enter a world that was closed to her as a woman.

Boston Lyric Opera’s Daughter of the Regiment nods to Deborah Sampson but does not aim to tell her story literally. The connection is intentionally loose — a spark rather than a blueprint — an imaginative way of placing Donizetti’s opera in Revolutionary-era Boston and asking what happens when a young woman grows up with a regiment of men. In this adaptation, the central character — Marie — is still the irrepressible foundling claimed by a battalion of surrogate fathers, but she also stands, faintly, in the shadow of a rebel who fashioned a new name, a new uniform, and a new way of appearing in public.

As a cornerstone of Boston Lyric Opera’s “Voices of Revolution” programming initiative that celebrates America’s 250th anniversary, Daughter of the Regiment centers comedy as a vital force.

Laughter in this setting is not an escape from difficulty, but instead a way of holding it together: a rehearsal for courage, a way to stay human in the midst of upheaval. In this staging, laughter is its own kind of small revolution, a joyful form of resistance that lets Marie and the regiment push back against hierarchy, loosen the grip of class and convention, and imagine a world where a young woman can claim space in the ranks and in the story. When the soldiers cheer her on, when the music gathers into exuberant ensembles, we 12

BLO | SPRING 2026

see a community remaking itself in real time and testing a more generous idea of who belongs.

This production of Daughter of the Regiment leans strongly into comic energy. Marie’s life in the regiment is full of jokes, mishaps, and physical exuberance: she learns to march and salute, to drink and banter, to shoulder a musket and scramble over obstacles, often with more enthusiasm than precision. The men around her are likewise engaged in self-fashioning, former farmers and artisans who now wear uniforms that align them with a cause larger than their individual lives. Their rough affection for Marie, their drinking songs, their protective bluster — all of these echo her own struggle to belong. Yet where they find stability in rank, ritual, and hierarchy, Marie remains fluid, her identity shaped by the instability of war, of love, and of her own quicksilver impulses.

I am currently writing a book entitled Who-ness: The Story of Building a Character. It grows out of my curiosity about what we call character, and my lifelong attention to how actors build a character in rehearsal that is then legible onstage to an audience.

Rather than treating a character as a stable self, identity, or persona, I use the term “who-ness” to describe a process — how a person is made and revealed in relation to the world around them: their histories, the roles they inhabit, the bodies they move in, the expectations that press upon them, and the gestures, choices, and accidents that shape how they appear to others. I am less interested in the inner, private self than in the porous, changing figure who emerges in particular historical and social circumstances, whose identity is continually adjusted by family, community, politics, and place.

We may not become entirely different; yet circumstance invites different choices, and each choice subtly alters our contours. In my mind, this capacity for variation is where “who-ness” becomes visible.

Opera is an especially vivid place to see “who-ness” in action. Singers do not simply “have” characters; they build them through posture, costume, phras-

ing, breath, and timing. The way a singer stands in relation to another character, the precision of a salute, or the choice to speak a line rather than sing it can all clarify who that character is becoming in a story. Comedy heightens that process. When someone stumbles, goes off script, or reacts more openly than they meant to, we suddenly see their “who-ness” more sharply and watch how a single public moment can change how they are perceived.

Donizetti’s score gives Marie a voice that is impossible to ignore. Even when she is disguised in uniform, her singing refuses to “pass” as anything other than gloriously herself, and the audience willingly accepts the convention. Though her voice does not sound like a man’s, we accept the fiction, collaborating in her act of self-creation. In this shared act of pretending, of agreeing to see her as a “daughter of the regiment,” we help shape the reality she embodies.

Her voice reshapes the space she inhabits, staking a sonic claim to her “who-ness,” one that exceeds the disguise and compels recognition.

Daughter of the Regiment also reminds us that “who-ness” is never solitary. Marie becomes herself not in isolation but through relationships — with her surrogate fathers in the regiment, with the aristocratic suitor who loves her, with the mother

who claims her by blood. Each encounter pulls her towards a different version of self, and Donizetti’s layered score holds all these possibilities without forcing a simple resolution. She is at once dutiful and defiant, cherished and free, foundling and fighter, shaped by contradictions she inhabits rather than resolves.

Like Deborah Sampson marching beside her comrades, Marie discovers her fuller humanity through friction and solidarity, but here that discovery is filtered through laughter, love, and song. We watch a woman — and, by extension, a young country — experiment with freedom in real time, using comedy as a way to test new roles, new loyalties, and new forms of belonging. In this production, we see not only one woman’s transformation, but also how our fullest selves can emerge when we dare to redefine ourselves — and one another — in response to urgent circumstances, and to do so with joy.

Brenda Rae (Marie, Daughter of the Regiment) rehearses at BLO’s Opera + Community Studios.

Photo courtesy of BLO Staff.

Gannett/Shurtleff grave at Rock Ridge Cemetery, Sharon, MA; photo by Leon H. Abdalian, c. 1920, Boston Public Library, Print Department.

BLO | SPRING 2026

13

Getting Into

Opera GBH Music partnered with Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) and New England Conservatory (NEC) to explore the artistry behind opera in a dynamic video series featuring legendary singers Patricia Racette, Susan Graham, and Davóne Tines. Designed for newcomers and seasoned enthusiasts alike, Getting into Opera reveals how powerful performances are shaped through vocal coaching, stage direction, and artistic mentorship.

Filmed in front of a live audience in GBH’s acoustically acclaimed Fraser Performance Studio, each episode showcases rising talents from BLO’s Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists Initiative and NEC’s opera program.

Episodes are available on GBH Music’s YouTube channel.

SCAN FOR MORE INFO

SAVE THE DATE! June - September 2026 Boston Lyric Opera continues its beloved program of fun, free, outdoor concert experiences all summer long, full of opera’s greatest hits, American songbook favorites, and more. Coming soon to neighborhoods all over Boston!

BLO.org/streetstage

BLO STAFF PHOTO

Locations include Villa Victoria, Rose Kennedy Greenway, Piers Park, JP’s Curtis Hall, Charlestown Navy Yard, Moakley Park, Titus Sparrow Park, and more.

MEET THE ARTISTS KELLY KUO | Conductor Currently Music Director of the Reno Chamber Orchestra and Associate Artistic Director of American Lyric Theater, Kelly Kuo has consistently championed the development of the next generation of musical talent and demonstrated a commitment to innovative programming, creative initiatives, and advocacy for underrepresented voices in the concert hall.

Maestro Kuo brings a dynamic versatility and nuance to a diverse repertoire. Highlights of recent seasons include productions with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, and concerts with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Sunriver Music Festival, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Walla Walla Symphony, Olympia Symphony Orchestra, and Ballet Fantastique. Maestro Kuo is the first conductor of Asian descent to lead a performance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He was also named Emeritus Artistic Director of the Oregon Mozart Players after having served the longest tenure in the organization’s history. Kuo continues to concertize as a keyboardist as the only pianist to have studied with two pupils of the Russian virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz.

JOHN DE LOS SANTOS | Stage Director & Choreographer Director/choreographer John de los Santos’ productions include Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun, Santa Fe Opera (world premiere); Ghosts (San Diego Opera, world premiere); Don Giovanni and Carmen, Wolf Trap Opera; Before Night Falls, Opera Southwest; L’heure espagnole, New Camerata Opera; Frida, Opera Orlando; Maria de Buenos Aires, Fort Worth Opera; and La fille du regiment, Minnesota Opera.

He has directed for The Julliard School, The Yale School of Music, and Manhattan School of Music.

As a librettist, his collaborations with composer Clint Borzoni include When Adonis Calls, Asheville Lyric Opera; The Copper Queen, Arizona Opera; and The Christmas Spider, Opera Louisiane. His commission by Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative with Christopher Weiss, Service Provider, premiered at the Kennedy Center and has since had twenty productions nationwide. In 2020, UrbanArias commissioned John and Marc Migó to write an operatic film for the Decameron 16

BLO | SPRING 2026

Opera Coalition. Their piece, The Roost, was added to the Library of Congress archives. De los Santos’ and Jorge Sosa’s opera Ofrenda won Austin Opera’s Opera ATX Residencies for Latinx Creatives. De los Santos is a librettist with Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative, where he and Kamala Sankaram are creating an opera of Stephen King’s Misery.

KIRSTEN GREENIDGE | New English Dialogue Village Voice/Obie and PEN America/ Laura Pels winner Kirsten Greenidge is the author of The Luck of the Irish, Milk Like Sugar, Our Daughters Like Pillars and Common Ground: Revisited, an adaptation of J. Anthony Lucas’ Pulitzer Prize-winning book about Boston’s desegregation efforts in the 1970s. A hallmark of Greenidge’s work is her focus on the nexus of race, class, and gender in the U.S. Recent work includes Matilde: A Fable, last seen at the 2025 DNA Festival at La Jolla Playhouse; and her libretto adaptation for Boston Lyric Opera’s 2024 production of Joseph Bologne’s The Anonymous Lover, which was subsequently presented at Opera Philadelphia in winter 2025. Greenidge is an Associate Professor of theatre at the School of Theatre at Boston University, where she oversees the playwriting track of study and serves as the school’s director. She attended Wesleyan University and the Playwrights’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. She is currently working on commissions from Plays-inPlace, A.R.T., and Fourth Wall Theatricals, for which she is developing the musical Shelter, based on the journalism of Lauren Sandler, with music and lyrics

by Crystal Monee Hall and direction by Lorin Latarro.

Shelter will be workshopped at New York Stage and Film in summer 2025.

LILIANA DUQUE PIÑEIRO | Set Designer Liliana Duque Piñeiro is a set designer and sculptor. Recent opera productions include Dolores, co-produced by West Edge Opera, Opera Southwest, and San Diego Opera; Farolitos and Before Night Falls for Opera Southwest; Zorro and Florencia en el Amazonas for Opera San José; Carmen for Charlottesville Opera; Le Comte Ory for the Merola Opera Program; Don Giovanni for Minnesota Opera; Julius Caesar and Ariane & Bluebeard for West Edge Opera; Thumbprint

MEET THE ARTISTS and Tosca for Chautauqua Opera; La traviata for Fort Worth Opera; The Copper Queen, a film produced

by Arizona Opera; Il postino, co-produced by Virginia Opera, Opera Southwest, and Chicago Opera Theatre; the world premiere of Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun for Santa Fe Opera; and the world premiere of If I Were You by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer for the Merola Opera Program. Upcoming productions include Romeo and Juliet for Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Rinaldo for West Edge Opera.

OANA BOTEZ | Costume Designer Oana Botez is a Romanian American costume designer working in theatre, opera, film, and dance. She is a recipient of the Lucille Lortel, Obie, Henry Hewes, Princess Grace, and Barrymore Awards, and a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program. Her US theatre credits include projects for BAM, The Public Theater, LCT3, Signature Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, The Kitchen, The Joyce Theater, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, and Wilma Theater. In the realm of opera, she has designed for Detroit Opera, The Industry LA, Alice Tully Hall/Lincoln Center, Minnesota Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Portland Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Prototype NY, National Sawdust, REDCAT, BAM, Wolf Trap Opera, NY Philharmonic, and Château de Versailles. Internationally, she has worked with Bucharest National Theatre, The Old Vic, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Les Subsistances, Budapest National Theatre, The International Festival of Contemporary Theatre (Turkey), Le Quartz (France), La Filature (France), and Exit Festival/Maison des arts de Créteil (France). Ms. Botez teaches at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale in the Design Department.

REZA BEHJAT | Lighting Designer Reza Behjat is an Obie Award-winning lighting designer based in New York City. He began his career in Iran, collaborating with the country’s most prominent theatre artists before transitioning to the U.S. His work has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at regional theaters nationwide, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Atlantic Theater

Company, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, Steppenwolf, Guthrie Theater, Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. While his primary practice is theatrical design, Behjat’s storytelling is deeply rooted in his background as a director. This dual perspective allows him to look beyond the visual, bringing a sharp sensitivity to dramaturgy and directorial vision. Dedicated to the development of new work and devised theatre, he balances his passion for directing with his career as a collaborative designer. Behjat won an Obie Award in the design category for his work on two productions of English and Wish You Were Here in 2023.

Additionally, alongside the cast and the creative team of English, he received a Special Citation from the Obie Award. Other accolades include the Knight of Illumination award for Nina Simone: Four Women and nominations for the Drama Desk, Henry Hewes Design Awards, and Jeff Awards.

EARON CHEW NEALEY | Wig & Makeup Designer Earon Chew Nealey returns to Boston Lyric Opera, having previously served as Wig & Makeup Designer for BLO’s Carousel (2025), The Seasons (2025), and La bohème (2022). Her numerous design credits include Fat Ham and Waterfall, WP Theater; Almost Famous and Jersey Boys, ACT of Connecticut; Huzzah, The Old Globe; Camelot and Blues for an Alabama Sky, Barrington; Two Strangers and Diary of a Tap Dancer, A.C.T.; The Grove, Sojourners, Toni Stone, Fat Ham, and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Huntington; Bad Kreyól and Three Houses, The Signature Theatre; Table 17 (Makeup Design), MCC Theater; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Malvolio, and Twelfth Night, Classical Theatre of Harlem; Hamlet, The Harder They Come, Fat Ham, Cullud Wattah, and Mojada, The Public Theater; Dames at Sea and Kinky Boots, Bucks County Playhouse; The Last Supper, SOPAC; On Killing, Soho Rep; Little Girl Blue, Goodspeed and New World Stages; Meet Vera Stark and Matilda, Colorado University; On Sugarland, NYTW; Nina Simone: Four Women, Berkshire Theatre Group; Little Women, Dallas Theater Center; Oklahoma!, and Always… Patsy Cline, Weston Playhouse; Memphis and Dream Girls, Cape Fear Regional Theatre; and Cadillac Crew and Twelfth Night, Yale Rep. BLO | SPRING 2026

17

MEET THE ARTISTS 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 Song of the Earth, Macbeth, 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.

BRENDA RAE | Marie With dazzling coloratura and an unflinching dramatic commitment to the eclectic roles she brings to life, Brenda Rae continues to triumph on the world’s leading stages. She returns to Boston Lyric Opera after her electric debut as Aspasia in BLO’s 2024 production of Mitridate. This season brings important new challenges for Rae at Teatro Real and Palau de la Música, where she sings Petra in the world premiere of Francisco Coll’s setting of Ibsen’s An enemy of the people. At the Grand Theâtre de Genève, she embraces the surreal world of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels making its Swiss premiere. Back home in the United States, Rae returns to her bel canto roots as Rossini’s Madame Cortese in Il viaggio a Reims for Opera Philadelphia and as Donizetti’s high-flying eponymous Marie in Daughter of the Regiment for Boston Lyric Opera.

Recent European highlights include a long-awaited return to Oper Frankfurt as Lulu in Nadja Loschky’s new production conducted by Thomas Guggeis, as well as Aminta in Jan Philipp Gloger’s new production of Die schweigsame Frau for Staatsoper Unter den Linden under Christian Thielemann. Elsewhere, Rae returned 18

BLO | SPRING 2026

to the role of Gilda in Rigoletto for Deutsche Oper Berlin under Michele Spotti, and Opernhaus Zürich with Andrea Sanguineti.

SPENCER BRITTEN | Tonio A former member of the International Opera Studio at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, Chinese-Canadian tenor Spencer Britten sang numerous roles there, including Janek Prus in a new production of The Makropulos Affair, Erste Priester in Die Zauberflöte, Haushofmeister bei Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, Silango in Le cinesi, Kalil in Die Arabische Nacht, Postiglione in La Fanciulla del West, Offizier in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Borsa in Rigoletto.

Britten also recently made his house and role debut at the Bregenzer Festspiele in Austria, singing the role of Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri. Following a summer covering Don Ottavio at The Glyndebourne Festival, Britten’s 2023-2024 season included a debut at the Hungarian State Opera in L’Italiana in Algeri, a cover of Tonio in La fille du régiment at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Handel’s Messiah with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Orchestre Métropolitain at the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, and a house and role debut as Pepe/Official in Opera Southwest’s production of Before Night Falls. Engagements for the most recent season include Handel’s Messiah with the Vancouver Bach Choir under the baton of Leslie Dala, and with the Philadelphia Orchestra for a return collaboration with Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

KENNETH KELLOGG | Colonel Sulpice Bass Kenneth Kellogg’s recent career highlights include his recent Wagner debut as Fafner in a celebrated new production of Das Rheingold at Seattle Opera, where he also made his debut in the title role in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Other recent appearances include Il Re in Aida in concert at Detroit Opera, Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor at Pocket Opera, and Logger in Bulrusher at West Edge Opera. Current season appearances include Ramfis in Aida at Daytona Opera, Kourouscha in Dédé’s rarely heard Morgiane in a co-production between Louisiana Philharmonic and Opera Lafayette, and in his return to Washington National Opera in his debut as Crown in Porgy and Bess. A significant feature of Kellogg’s

Scan to explore BLO’s 50th Anniversary Season!

MEET THE ARTISTS last three seasons is the role of Father in Blue, named the best new opera of 2020 by the Music Critics Association of North America, a role written for him by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson. Kellogg sang the role in its world premiere at Glimmerglass Festival, then at Detroit Opera, Toledo Opera, Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Washington National Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, with international appearances at Dutch National Opera in Holland, and at London’s English National Opera.

SANDRA PIQUES EDDY | Widow Birkenfeld Sandra Piques Eddy returns to Boston Lyric Opera after her enthusiastically received performance as Dorothée in BLO’s 2024 production of The Anonymous Lover.

Past roles with BLO include Dorabella, Così fan tutte; Charlotte, Werther; Varvara, Kátya Kabanová; Idamante, Idomeneo; and her company debut in 2000 as Kate Pinkerton, Madama Butterfly. Ms. Eddy is a Boston native whose operatic career has taken her to renowned stages worldwide. Recently, she sang Carmen, Carmen, Opera in the Park in Portland, Oregon; Little Buttercup, HMS Pinafore, Opera Grand Rapids; and Aunt March, Little Women, Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Ms. Eddy’s career is marked by standout performances including Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia; Isabella, L’italiana in Algeri; Paula, Florencia en al Amazonas; Poppea, L’incoronazione di Poppea; Orfeo, Orfeo ed Euridice; Cherubino, Le nozze di Figaro; Maddalena, Rigoletto; and Desirée, A Little Night Music at companies such as Vancouver Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Colorado, Atlanta Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Chicago Opera Theatre, Michigan Opera Theatre, Austin Opera, Portland Opera, Opera North UK, New Zealand Opera, and Hyogo Performing Arts in Japan. A celebrated Carmen, Ms. Eddy has performed the role with numerous companies and orchestras, most notably two tours of Japan with legendary Maestro Seiji Ozawa.

ANGELA YAM | Hortensia 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 20

BLO | SPRING 2026

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. NEAL FERREIRA | The Duchess Crakenthorpe Neal Ferreira is a nationally recognized lyric tenor known for his dynamic stage presence and cultivated vocalism. A recipient of the 2009 Stephen Shrestinian Award for Excellence and a member of the inaugural class of the Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists Initiative, he has appeared with Boston Lyric Opera in more than 25 productions. Favorite roles with the company include Loud Stone in Eurydice, Auctioneer/Taylor in Omar, Jazz Trio in Trouble in Tahiti, The Visitor in In the Penal Colony, Monostatos in The Magic Flute, and Tancredi in The Inspector. Most recently, he was the Emcee for BLO’s Opera Gala 2025. Ferreira regularly sings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and this past summer performed as Spoletta in Tosca at Tanglewood under the baton of Maestro Andris Nelsons. He recently appeared with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project as Aubrey in Ulysses Kay’s Frederick Douglass and with Odyssey Opera as Alpheus/Ares in Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata. This season, he returned to the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company as Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, and sang Iopas in Les Troyens à Carthage with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. Ferreira is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music.

MEET THE ARTISTS DEVON RUSSO | Corporal 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 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

SIGN UP FOR BLO’S EMAIL LIST

Stay on top of our news, upcoming shows, & more!

BLO.org

NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS

Brandon Cedel as The Cosmic Weatherman in Boston Lyric Opera’s The Seasons, 2025.

BLO | SPRING 2026

21

MEET THE ARTISTS 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, Caval-

22

BLO | SPRING 2026

leria 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 CoFounder 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.

2026 SEASON

Andris Nelsons MUSIC DIRECTOR

EXPLORE YOUR MUSICAL PLAYGROUND Learn more and buy tickets at tanglewood.org

Caroline T. Dartey. Photo by Andrew Eccles.

Alicia Graf Mack, Daria L. and Eric J. Wallach Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Associate Artistic Director

APR 30 - MAY 03 BOCH CENTER WANG THEATRE

Tickets at vivoperformingarts.org

ARTISTIC & PRODUCTION PERSONNEL BLO ORCHESTRA Violin Annie Rabbat Orchestra Leader Sarah Atwood Principal Second Violin Stacey Alden Heather Braun-Bakken Heidi Braun-Hill Colin Davis Rohan Gregory Jodi Hagen Yeolim Nam Zoya Tsvetkova Hikaru Yonezaki Viola David Feltner Acting Principal Noriko Futagami Donna Jerome Don Krishnaswami Cello Melanie Dyball Acting Principal Hyun-ji Kwon Jacqueline Ludwig Selby Aron Zelkowicz Bass Barry Boettger Principal Kevin Green

English Horn Grace Shryock Clarinet Jan Halloran Principal Nicholas Brown Bassoon Ronald Haroutunian Principal Rachel Juszczak Horn Whitacre Hill Acting Principal Barbara Hill Dirk Hillyer Iris Rosenstein Trumpet Dana Oakes Acting Principal Jesse Levine Trombone Drew Robertson Principal Hans Bohn Cameron Owen Timpani Robert Schulz Acting Principal

Flute Linda Toote Principal Ann Bobo

Percussion Nancy Smith Principal William Manley John Tanzer

Piccolo Ann Bobo

Fortepiano Ji Yung Lee

Oboe Nancy Dimock Principal Grace Shryock 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.

BLO CHORUS Brett Hodgdont Chorus Director Soprano Tenor Leo Balkovetz Melynda Davis Ethan Bremner Josie Larsenl Tyler Cesario Kay Patterson Morgan Mastrangelol l Laura Santamaria Fausto Miro Simeng Wu Patrick Starke Alto Rebekah Daly Jaime Korkos Mary Krayl Sara Mitnik Arielle Rogers-Wilkey

Bass Michael Aoun Junhan Choit Benedict Hensley Craig Juricka Devon Russol Ron Williams

COVERS Angela Yaml Marie Morgan Mastrangelol Tonio Devon Russol Colonel Sulpice PRODUCTION STAFF Michael Janney Stage Manager Alexandra Dietrichl Assistant Stage Director Adrian Speth Assistant Stage Manager Jolie Frazer-Madge Assistant Stage Manager Gail Buckley Costume Director Emme Shaw Properties Supervisor Alexander Graham Assistant Scenic Designer Juno Jacobs Assistant Costume Designer Alayo Oloko Assistant Lighting Designer Natalia St Jean Surtitle Designer & Operator Shira Gitlin Gender Consultation PRODUCTION CREW Michael Geoghegan Head Production Carpenter TJ Willis First Assistant Production Carpenter Ari Huy Head Production Electrician Sumner Ellsworth Lighting Programmer Harrison Nicol First Assistant Production Electrician Emily Picot Head Production Properties David Picot First Assistant 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 MUSIC STAFF William Manley Orchestra Contractor & Music Librarian

l

Boston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist | t Boston Lyric Opera Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist Alum

BLO | SPRING 2026

25

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 Castle of Our Skins 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 Everyone250 26

BLO | SPRING 2026

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 High Output HILB Group HUB International The Huntington Theatre 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 MA250 MASARY Studios Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Massachusetts Rivers Alliance Massachusetts Women’s History Center Megan Gilron | Staging Research Midway Artist Studios | Raber Umphenour Mike Marchetti Mike Mejia Andrew Motta Museum of African American History Museum of Science Myles Standish Business Condominiums

National Parks of Boston NEPS Primary Freight New England Conservatory of Music Nile Hawver/Nile Scott Studios North Shore Music Theatre Production Advantage ProPrint Tony Rickard Robert Silman Associates Structural Engineers | Ben Rosenberg, Steven Au Yeung The Rose Kennedy Greenway Rosebrand, Inc. Roxbury International Film Festival 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 Ten31 Productions Tessitura Think Outside The Vox Truro Historical Society The Trustees of Reservations TYGER Design + Production United Parish Brookline United Staging & Rigging | Eric Frishman Vantage Technology Consulting Group | Geoffrey Tritsch The West End Museum Wetherbee Creative | Wendy Wetherbee WBUR YW Boston | Anouska Bhattacharyya

BOSTON LYRIC OPERA STAFF NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS

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 Scot Burckhardt Director of Production Brett Hodgdon Head of Music & Chorus Director Ian Rouillard Assistant Director of Production Kimberly Sabio Manager of Artistic Operations V Brancazio Programs & Events Manager Natalie Main Artistic Coordinator Michael Janney Production Associate Kacie Brown Resident Teaching Artist Sepehr Davallou Resident Teaching Artist Laura Nevitt Resident Teaching Artist Hannah Shanefield 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 Amy Gingle Campaign Director Laura Jekel Director of Annual Giving & Philanthropy Charlotte Porter Senior Philanthropy Advisor Shelly Cornell Senior Philanthropy Advisor Randy Biagas-Hill Philanthropy Coordinator Katherine Leary Prospect Researcher 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 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 u Deceased

As of April 15, 2026

BLO | SPRING 2026

27

We’re almost there — help BLO reach the finish line!

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 $900,000 to bring this shared arts space to life by 2026.

Scan the QR code to make a donation

(l-r) Brandon Jovanovich and Raehann Bryce-Davis perform in Song of the Earth at BLO's Opera + Community Studios, 2026.

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 (1) Alicia M. Cooney & Stephen Quigley Wayne Davis & Ann Merrifield Barbara & Amos Hostetter The Paul & Sandra Montrone Family Mr. & Mrs. Ray Stata

$500,000 - $999,999 Miss Wallace Minot Leonard Foundation

$100,000 - $499,999 Willa & Taylor Bodman Miguel & Suki de Bragança Mr. Lawrence M. DeVito Massachusetts Cultural Council Movement Arts Creation Studio Lise Olney & Tim Fulham David W. Scudder & Betsy Ridge Dr. Robert Walsh & Lydia Kenton Walsh

$50,000 - $99,999

Anonymous (1) Rick Burnes Cabot Family Charitable Trust Andrew L. Eisenberg & John Vetrano Mimi Hewlett John M. Loder Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture Anne M. Morgan Winfield & Linda Perry Stephen & Geraldine Ricci

$25,000 - $49,999

Robert Eastman Flansburgh Architects Jack D. Gorman Susan W. Jacobs Kate Meany Mr. Carl Rosenberg Mr. & Mrs. Vincent & Robin Rougeau George & Moira Yip Ms. Tania Zouikin

$1 - $9,999

Anonymous (1) Stacy Brenner Ms. Ellen Cabot Anne Lyons Dolan in memory of Susan Eastman Alan & Lisa Dynner Gift made in honor of Boston Lyric Opera Staff Gift made in honor of Midway Artist Studios Residents Lisa Hillenbrand Jennifer Ritvo Hughes & Marcus Hughes Ms. Louise Johnson Amelia & Joshua Katzen Courtney Keller Drs. Lynne & Sidney Levitsky Gregory E. Moore & Wynne W. Szeto Jeff Nelsen & Nina Yoshida Nelsen Ms. Rebecca Nemser Mr. Anthony Pangaro & Ms. Creelea Henderson Jane Pisciottoli Papa Janet & Irv Plotkin Nicholas G. Russell Ms. Tricia Swift Mr. & Mrs. Frank Tempesta Yin-Yin Wang Janice Blair Yoshida Donations as of March 31, 2026

NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS

Family of John M Conklin Sylvia Han & Bruce Rubenstein Maria Krokidas & Bruce Bullen Abigail B. Mason Christine & Michael Puzo Allison Ryder & David Jones Rumena & Alexander Senchak Andrew Sherman & Russ López Bradley Vernatter Peter J. Wender

$10,000 - $24,999

DONORS 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 contributions made to BLO between July 1, 2024 and March 1, 2026. 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 BLO. 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.

ENDOWMENT | We recognize donors to our endowment, who believe in BLO’s fiscal sustainability.

For more information or to make a gift, please contact Ishan Johnson, Chief Philanthropy Advisor, at ijohnson@blo.org or 617.702.8961.

Please note that if your donation was received or adjusted after the dates above, it may not be reflected until the next playbill due to publication deadlines. If you note that your donation is not reflected correctly in this playbill, please contact Ishan Johnson, Chief Philanthropy Advisor, at ijohnson@blo.org or 617.702.8961.

CRESCENDO ($100,000+) Jane & Steven Akin Barr Foundation Linda Cabot Black Willa* & Taylor Bodman Katie & Paul Buttenwieser Gerard & Sherryl Cohen Alicia M. Cooney* & Stephen Quigley Wayne Davis* & Ann Merrifield Andrew L. Eisenberg* & John Vetrano Gardner Hendrie Marilee Wheeler Trust Charitable Fund Mattina R. Proctor Foundation Christine & Michael Puzo* David W. Scudder & Betsy Ridge Wendy Shattuck & Sam Plimpton l

l

l

l

l

l

VIVACE ($50,000 - $99,999)

Anonymous (1) Rick Burnes* Miguel* & Suki de Bragança John H. Deknatel & Carol M. Taylor l

ALLEGRO ($10,000 - $24,999)

Anonymous (3) The Acorn Foundation BPS Arts Expansion Fund at EdVestors Ms. Ellen Cabot* Ms. RoAnn Costin Alberto Cribiore & Kristin Sebastian l

30

BLO | SPRING 2026

Barbara & Amos Hostetter Susan W. Jacobs* Abigail B. Mason* Massachusetts Cultural Council Miss Wallace Minot Leonard Foundation The Paul & Sandra Montrone Family Mrs. E. Lee Perry Winfield* & Linda Perry The Poduska Family Foundation Helen Pounds Stephen* & Geraldine Ricci l

l

l

PRESTO ($25,000 - $49,999) Anonymous (1) Mr. John W. Brewer Mr. Mark H. Dalzell Alan & Lisa Dynner Jack D. Gorman* The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation Maria Krokidas* & Bruce Bullen l

Janika* & George LeMaitre John M. Loder* Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture David & Janet McCue Anne M. Morgan* Kristine A. Moyer Higgins & Robert F. Higgins Elaine Murphy in memory of Buck Haberkorn Lise Olney & Tim Fulham* OPERA America Mr.u & Mrs. A. Neil Pappalardo Ms. Maria Park Janet & Irv Plotkin* Polaris Capital Management William & Lia Poorvu Erinn Rhodes & Jason Rhodes Allison Ryder* & David Jones Mr.* & Mrs. Ray Stata Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation l

l

l

l

l

l

l

Priscilla Deck & Sean Kelly Susan Denison Robert Eastman* Estate of Emily C. Hoodu Frank Graves & Christine Dugan Kathy & Ron Groves The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation l

HarborOne Bank Mimi Hewlett Mr. Keith Higgins Lisa Hillenbrand* Mr.u & Mrs. Edward C. Johnson Amelia* & Joshua Katzen Milling Kinard Lincoln & Therese Filene Foundation l

Dr. Joseph & Mrs. Anita Loscalzo* Nagesh Mahanthappa & Valentine Talland Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency MEDITECH Jo Frances Meyer* & Carl Herbert National Endowment for the Arts Mr. & Mrs. Richard Olney III Paul & Edith Babson Foundation Melinda & James Rabb Peter & Suzanne Read Mr.* & Mrs. Vincent & Robin Rougeau Russell Philanthropies Barbara* & Andrew Senchak Rumena & Alexander Senchak* Andrew Sherman & Russ López* Larry* & Beverly St. Clair Andrew Szentgyorgyi, Nicholas Szentgyorgyi & Nancy Brickhouse Bradley Vernatter Dr. Robert Walsh* & Lydia Kenton Walsh* Peter J. Wender* Jerry Wheelock & Elizabeth Wood The Wilson Family Charitable Fund Michael Wyzga & Judy Ozbun George* & Moira Yip Ms. Tania Zouikin* l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

ADAGIO ($5,000 - $9,999)

Anonymous (2) Anonymous in memory of James W. Boynton Mark & Pam Alcaide Nancy Altschuler Mr. Peter Ambler & Ms. Lindsay Miller Bill & Vicki Barke Drs. Susan E. Bennett* & Gerald B. Pier Roger Berman Kathy Boyceu The Chay Family Ms. Mei Po Cheung Mr. Lawrence M. DeVito* Ms. JoAnne Dickinson* Laura Dike & Vaughn Miller* Dr. Jordan S. Ruboy Charitable Fundu Martin Elvis & Giuseppina Fabbiano Kathryn G. Freed in memory of Dean & Patti Freed Fremont Giving Fund Gilbane Building Company Melissa Gilliam & William Grobman Dr. Kurt D. Gress & Mr. Samuel Y. Parkinson Nick & Marjorie Greville Mr. Joseph Hammer Sylvia Han* & Bruce Rubenstein David Hoffman* & Deborah Friedman Morton Hoffman in loving memory of Sandy Hoffmanu l

l

l

l

Amy Hunter* & Steven Maguire Ms. Louise Johnson* Ellen & Robert Kaplan Butler & Lois Lampson Drs. Lynne* & Sidney Levitsky Liana Enterprises Ms. M. Lynne Markus* Kathryn McDaniel* Kate Meany* Gregory E. Moore & Wynne W. Szeto* Mario & Nancy Nicosia Jane Pisciottoli Papa* Anthony & Katharine Pell Dr. Douglas Reeves Mr. Carl Rosenberg* Stephen & Peg Senturia R. S. Steinberg Ms. Tricia Swift* Mr.* & Mrs. Frank Tempesta Dr. Nelson Thaemert & Mr. Brian Gokey Mr. Richard Trant* Ms. Amy Tsurumi* Yin-Yin Wang* l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

l

GRAZIOSO ($3,000 - $4,999) Anonymous (1) John Barstow & Genie Ware Michael Barza & Judith Robinson Tamara P. & Charles H. Davis II Elaine Epstein & Jim Krachey Mr. & Mrs. Dozier Gardner Anne Giudice David Kirk Dr. Maydee G. Lande in memory of her father Alice Levine & Paul Weissman Shari & Christopher Noe Nick Russo John & Debra Sculley Mr. John Stevens & Ms. Virginia McIntyre Ernst Ter Haar Michael Young l

ADVOCATE ($1,000 - $2,999)

Anonymous (9) Mr. Bernard Aserkoff George & Hillery Ballantyne Ms. Nesli Basgoz Christine Bassett & Carey Alexander Richard & Mahala Beams John & Molly Beard John Belchers Sherie & Walter Bush Ms. Jane Carr & Mr. Andrew Hertig Michael & Bernie Caruso in honor of Barbara Case Senchak Tip & Nino Catalano Ms. Nina Cohen Marjorie B. & Martin Cohn William & Ellen Cross Pamela & Belden Daniels

Marianne DePamphilis & Ronald Caccavaro Valerie Dixon Anne Lyons Dolan in memory of Susan Eastman Mr. Mark Donohoe Ms. Priscilla Douglas Zach Durant-Emmons & Willis Emmons Edmund & Betsy Cabot Charitable Foundation Eran & Yukiko Egozy Johannes Eijmberts & Wiebe Tinga Mark Elefante & Amy Selinger 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 Gatling Family Giving Fund Temple Gill & Christopher Yens Bill Glazer & Tom Smith in honor of Russ López & Andrew Sherman Dr. David Golan & Dr. Laura Green Dr. Joan Goldberg Susan Goldberg & Geoffrey Etnire Barbara & Steve Grossman HarborOne Foundation The Hargrove Pierce Foundation Mr. & Mrs. John Henn Dr. Robert J. Henry, M.D. Art & Eloise Hodges Ms. Jeannette Hsu 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 Marilyn Levitt & Andrew Friedland Maestro Keith Lockhart & Ms. Emiley Zalesky Lockhart Joe & Pam LoDato Tod Machover & June Kinoshita Steven Maler & Anthony Liquori Mr. Joseph Mari Rob & Danny McBride Jillian* & Andrew McGrath The Michaud Family Ms. Kati Mitchell Rumiko Mizuuchi-Adamowicz & Laurent Adamowicz Mark & Caroline Murphy Mary & Sherif Nada Esther Nelson & Bernd Ulken BLO | SPRING 2026

31

Jean & Bryan Olson Mr. Anthony Pangaro & Ms. Creelea Henderson Heidi & Lewis Pearlson The Prone Family Foundation Michael Raizman William Reinfeld Art & Elaine Robins Elizabeth Ross & William O’Reilly Lee Sandwen John Sasso & Mary Jo Adams Mr. & Mrs. Robert Schechter Ellie Schmidt Michael Schwartz & Claudia Aronow Lisa Serafin Sheehan & Brian Sheehan Annie Short Mrs. Sarah D. Billinghurst Solomon Susan Stamler Richard Starbuck & Deane Hall Campbell Steward Myles Striar Rev. Nancy Taylor Ms. Melissa Tully Ms. Paula Tyack Mrs. Wat Tyler Mary Verhage Roderick J. Wagner Thomas Watson Albert & Judith Zabin

SUSTAINER ($500 - $999)

Anonymous (11) Anonymous in honor of Hans Eijmberts & Wiebe Tinga Daren Bascome Nina & Donald Berk Dr. Nancy Berkowitz Garen Bohlin & Diana Sorensen Amy & Ethan d’Ablemont Burnes Ms. Bettina Burr in honor of Irv Plotkin James F. Crowley, Jr. Gene & Lloyd Dahmen Joanna Humphrey Flynn & Bryan Flynn Carl Folta & Molly Lemeris in honor of Maria Krokidas Arthur & Gloria Fox Ms. Christine G. Hannon Pauline Ho Bynum in memory of Susan Eastman Fred Hoppin Thomas & Sonja Ellingson Hout Martin Kalilow Ricardo & Marla Lewitus Mr. Merrill Mack Eric Mankin Tyler B. Martin John & Christina McCormick Ms. Virginia Meany Silvio Micali & Daniela Caruso-Micali Giampaolo Nicosia Robert & Carolyn Osteen *Board Member 32

Mr. William Pananos John Parisi Mr. Gene Pokorny Mr. Jack Reynolds in memory of Stevie Giacalone Patricia Romeo-Gilbert Simon Rosenthal & Nouri Newman Mr. Michael Schaefer Jay Scheib Patrick Seaver Mr. Robert Shapiro Lesley Silvester & E.J. Kahn III Sanjay & Amanda Talluri Ann B. Teixeira Michael & Judith Thoyer in honor of Erinn Rhodes Judith Verhave Linda & Harvey Weiner Steve Weiner & Don Cornuet Angela & Christopher Winchenbaugh Ed & Keryn Wojosecki Mr. & Ms. Douglas Woodlock Joan & Michael Yogg Harvey Young & Heather Schoenfeld

CONTRIBUTOR ($250-$499)

Anonymous (10) Anonymous in honor of Susan Eastman Anonymous in memory of Thomas Duffy Gill, Jr. Anonymous in honor of Benedict Hensley, baritone Anonymous in honor of Chris Noe Dean Anderson & Jean Scarrow Camille Batarekh & Ann O’Rourke Peter Bienstock Sarah B. Blume in honor of Linda Cabot Black C. Anthony Broh & Jennifer L. Hochschild Rebecca Bowen & Toby Bottorf Ms. Janet Buecker Mr. & Mrs. Philip Cantillon Sangita Chandra Connie Chin Sharon Daniels Ms. Kathryn Disney Lisa Dobberteen Anne & Gary Dunning Svetlana Evdokimova Jack Fabiano & Noel McCoy Mr. Lloyd Fillion Kate Gilbert & Chris Colbert Sandra Gilpatrick Prof. James A. Glazier Sylvia Hammer Mr. & Mrs. James J. Harper Yael & Eliot Heher Anneliese Henderson William Hess in honor of Thomas Hess

Wendy Hull Elinore & Herbert Kagan Courtney Keller Carol Kemp Mr. Anthony & Mrs. Susan Kiernan Blade Kotelly Robert W. Kruszyna York Lo & Rebecca Pearson Lo Quinn MacKenzie Andrew Magdanz & Susan Shapiro Magdanz Ken Maillar & Annie Grear Bruce Malin 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. 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 Michael Skatrud Otto & Dorothy Solbrig Ellie Starr John & Mary Tarvin Glen & Andrea Urban Steve Walch & Linda Williams Jerome Weinstein Polly Pitt Whiteside in honor of Richard Trant Susan Wing & Thomas Lavin

SUPPORTER ($100-$249)

Anonymous (3) Alan Benenfeld Stuart & Dorothy Bless Carol V. Brown Charles & Sheila Donahue Jacqueline G. Haslett, EdD James & Caroline McCloy Newell & Betty Hale Fund of Greater Worcester Susan Porter & Robert Kauffman Susan Wheltle Ms. Jennifer Yanco Ms. Cynthia Yee

Lyric Circle Member (those with multi-year commitments to our annual fund)

l

BLO | SPRING 2026

Deceased

u

THE BORIS GOLDOVSKY SOCIETY FOR PLANNED GIVING Anonymous (1) Ms. Diana Abrashkin Michael Barza & Judith Robinson Linda Cabot Black Rick Burnes Mr. David Cole-Rous & Ms. Norma Greenberg Alicia M. Cooney & Stephen Quigley Gene Dahmen Tim Daughters Tamara P. & Charles H. Davis II Wayne Davis Janice Mancini Del Sesto Mr. Lawrence M. DeVito Anne Lyons Dolan in memory of Susan Eastman Dr. Jordan S. Ruboy Charitable Fundu Mr. Dan Durou Alan & Lisa Dynner Margaret Eagle & Eli Rapaport

ENDOWMENT Anonymous (3) Ms. Ann Beha & Mr. Robert A. Radloff Linda Cabot Black Timothy Blodgett Dr. & Mrs. Eric & Elaine Bucher Katie & Paul Buttenwieser Mr. & Mrs. John Cabot

Robert Eastman Martin Elvis Ms. Anne Ewers Kathryn G. Freed in memory of Dean & Patti Freed Catherine & Frederick Grein Allison Groves Gillian Stuart Hamer Mr. Joseph Hammer Mr. & Mrs. John Henn Mimi Hewlett Ms. Myrna F. Howe Amy Hunter & Steven Maguire Susan W. Jacobs Ellen & Robert Kaplan Eva R. Karger Courtney Keller Ms. Mary Kiley Robert W. Kruszyna Mr. David Latham Joe & Pam LoDato Russell López & Andrew Sherman

Mr. Stephen Lord Ms. M. Lynne Markus Christopher Marrionu Abigail B. Mason Domenico Mastrototaro Richard S. Milstein, Esq.u Mary & Sherif Nada Jane Pisciottoli Papa Marie E. Pereto-Hedin Janet & Irv Plotkin Sandy & Herb Pollacku Christine & Michael Puzo Peter & Suzanne Read Stephen & Iris Taymore Schnitzer David W. Scudder Wendy Shattuck & Sam Plimpton Mrs. Lois Silverman Mr. Michael Tronic Peter J. Wender Mrs. Marillyn Zacharis Ms. Tania Zouikin

The Calderwood Charitable Foundation Alicia M. Cooney & Stephen Quigley Wayne Davis & Ann Merrifield Miguel & Suki de Bragança Alan & Lisa Dynner Jody Gill Abigail B. Mason Janet & Irv Plotkin

Helen Pounds Sheila W. & Samuel M. Robbins David W. Scudder & Betsy Ridge Wendy Shattuck & Sam Plimpton Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation Ms. Tania Zouikin

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS 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; 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 National Endowment for the Arts; the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture; and Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Corporate sponsors include Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete; MEDITECH; Metropolis + Channel Center Garage; Analog Devices Inc.; Polaris Capital Management; Gilbane Building Company; Flansburgh Architects; and The Residence Inn by Marriott (Boston Downtown/Seaport).

Boston Lyric Opera also acknowledges the incredible support of its Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and other donors and patrons.

inspiring great performances

Hemenway & Barnes is proud to support the Boston Lyric Opera.

www.hembar.com

34

BLO | SPRING 2026

For over 160 years, we’ve served as legal counsel, wealth managers and trustees to families, businesses and nonprofit organizations, both in New England and beyond. Expect seasoned partners who listen well, understand your situation personally and deliver advice custom-tailored to your needs.

NILE HAWVER/NILE SCOTT STUDIOS

CREATING OPERATIC MOMENTS THAT ENRICH EVERYDAY LIFE. SUPPORT BLO Play a starring role of your own. Make your gift today to support beloved classics, daring premieres, and a new generation of artists and audiences.

SCAN TO DONATE NOW To learn more about joining our community of supporters, please call or visit us at: 617.702.8975 BLO.org/give

• Donations directly impact the core facets of BLO: community & education programs, new works, and increasing opera accessibility.

•B LO puts on creative, outside-the-box productions that attract thousands of operagoers and reach hundreds of students through our education initiatives each year.

Keep Up With Us: Scan the QR code to sign up for BLO’s email list! Stay in the know about upcoming events and special offers, receive monthly communications like The Downbeat and Coming Up At BLO, and much, much more!

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: @BostonLyricOpera

Lise Lindström in BLO’s 2025 production of Ride of the Valkyries!

BLO | SPRING 2026

35

GET AN INSIDER’S LOOK BEYOND THE STAGE:

BLO.ORG/SEASON

OPERA INNOVATORS

PRE-SHOW OPERA LECTURES

DECONSTRUCTING OPERA

STREET STAGE: SUMMER 2025

CONCERT IN THE COURTYARD

OPERA NIGHT AT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

OPERA CREATION BOOT CAMP

OPERA ON TOUR: DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT

MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP

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.

BLO | SPRING 2026

37

BRADLEY VERNATTER Stanford Calderwood General Director & CEO NINA YOSHIDA NELSEN Artistic Director

DAVID ANGUS Music Director

ANNE BOGART Artistic Associate

VIMBAYI KAZIBONI Artistic Advisor

BOSTON LYRIC OPERA 15 Channel Center Street, #106 Boston, MA 02210

BLO.ORG