The Festival invites you to immerse yourself in myth, mystery, and adventure as the repertory for the 2024 season explores the connection between identity and illusion.

Festival Schedule:

July 22, 2024

1:00pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

July 23, 2024

1:00PM: La CalistoShare

The 2024 production of Cavalli’s La Calisto features Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley’s 2013 realization of the score, expanding Cavalli’s continuo and strings with original parts for winds and brass. Comedy and pathos, gods and mortals, and a few rutting satyrs for good measure—this sparkling early opera, which weaves together two myths of transformation, has it all. Written at the midpoint of Cavalli’s career, La Calisto was conceived to deliver maximum entertainment to its discerning Venetian public, resulting in a hilarious caper full of mistaken identities, raunchy trysts, and celestial magic. This bold take will be conducted by Ainsley, directed by Mo Zhou, and choreographed by Eric Sean Fogel.

MUSIC | Francesco Cavalli
LIBRETTO | Giovanni Faustini
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Rob Ainsley
DIRECTOR | Mo Zhou
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | Charlie Corcoran
COSTUME DESIGNER | Carlos Soto
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Amith Chandrashaker
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

July 26, 2024

3:00 PM: Pipeline Talk: The Artistry of Creation

Join Kevin Puts, Mark Campbell, Kelly Kuo, and Alison Moritz for a captivating discussion about the creative process and how they brought Elizabeth Cree to the stage. These award-winning artists will guide you through the labyrinth of inspiration, discussing the sparks that ignite creativity, the methods to sustain it, and the paths that lead to groundbreaking ideas. From exploring the fusion of imagination and technical skill to examining the role of failure and iteration, this engaging conversation, punctuated with musical excerpts, promises to unveil the secrets behind Elizabeth Cree.

PANELISTS | Kevin Puts, Mark Campbell, Kelly Kuo, and Alison Moritz

TICKETS | $20 per person

5:30 pm: Festival Dinners

Enjoy dinner, drinks, and conversation with friends and artists from the 2024 Festival. The Horned Dorset will cater all Festival Dinners. Menus available in the spring; vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options always available.

Tickets: $75 per person

7:30PM: La CalistoShare

The 2024 production of Cavalli’s La Calisto features Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley’s 2013 realization of the score, expanding Cavalli’s continuo and strings with original parts for winds and brass. Comedy and pathos, gods and mortals, and a few rutting satyrs for good measure—this sparkling early opera, which weaves together two myths of transformation, has it all. Written at the midpoint of Cavalli’s career, La Calisto was conceived to deliver maximum entertainment to its discerning Venetian public, resulting in a hilarious caper full of mistaken identities, raunchy trysts, and celestial magic. This bold take will be conducted by Ainsley, directed by Mo Zhou, and choreographed by Eric Sean Fogel.

MUSIC | Francesco Cavalli
LIBRETTO | Giovanni Faustini
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Rob Ainsley
DIRECTOR | Mo Zhou
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | Charlie Corcoran
COSTUME DESIGNER | Carlos Soto
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Amith Chandrashaker
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

July 27, 2024

12pm: Lyrics on the Lawn

The Glimmerglass Festival’s commitment to community continues to evolve with our brand new outdoor performance series, Lyrics on the Lawn. Offered to the public and at no cost, Lyrics on the Lawn is a series of outdoor concerts that will take place one hour before performances of Pagliacci.

Get to know the characters of Pagliacci with the help of Holly Adams, The Glimmerglass Festival’s “clown-in-residence,” as she guides audiences on a captivating journey through several scenes that will introduce the audience to traditional commedia dell’arte characters. Each performance will follow a similar story arc with the unique twist of rotating casts and music selections directly from our Young Artists.

Packed with humorous antics and lively music, you won’t want to miss your chance to witness the magic of opera in a beautiful setting! These 40-minute concerts are weather permitting. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating on the lawn.

1:00pm: Pagliacci

When passions ignite among a troupe of traveling players, the offstage drama spills into the performance in this new production of Pagliacci. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s comedy/thriller, inspired by a true crime report, contains two complete and overlapping stories in one compact work: a farce performed by a troupe of “pagliacci,” or clowns, and an all-too-real drama of jealous love. Our new production of this beloved opera adds a third frame, placing the opera within our immersive Festival with a pre-opera picnic performance - Lyrics on the Lawn - on our outdoor stage. What is real, and what is show?

MUSIC | Ruggero Leoncavallo
LIBRETTO | Ruggero Leoncavallo
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
OUTDOOR PICNIC PERFORMANCE | 40 minutes (begins one hour before curtain)
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCE | 1 hour and 45 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Brenna Corner
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

7:30pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

July 28, 2024

11:00 am: Preview Brunches

Get a sneak peek of the 2025 Festival season from Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley and members of the 2024 Young Artists Program while you enjoy a delicious brunch catered by The Horned Dorset. Menus available in the spring; vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options always available.

Tickets: $65 per person

1:00pm: Elizabeth Cree

Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s modern masterpiece Elizabeth Cree rounds out the season’s mainstage roster in a new production directed by Alison Moritz, starring 2024 Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught. Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age. Elizabeth Cree is a work that combines the factual with the fictive and the historical with the imaginary. Initially written for a small chamber ensemble, Elizabeth Cree will be performed with an expanded string complement at Glimmerglass.

MUSIC | Kevin Puts
LIBRETTO | Mark Campbell
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour 40 minutes (no intermission)

CONDUCTOR | Kelly Kuo
DIRECTOR | Alison Moritz
SET DESIGNER | Edward Morris
COSTUME DESIGNER | Amanda Seymour
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kate Ashton
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

July 29, 2024

12:00pm: Lyrics on the Lawn

The Glimmerglass Festival’s commitment to community continues to evolve with our brand new outdoor performance series, Lyrics on the Lawn. Offered to the public and at no cost, Lyrics on the Lawn is a series of outdoor concerts that will take place one hour before performances of Pagliacci.

Get to know the characters of Pagliacci with the help of Holly Adams, The Glimmerglass Festival’s “clown-in-residence,” as she guides audiences on a captivating journey through several scenes that will introduce the audience to traditional commedia dell’arte characters. Each performance will follow a similar story arc with the unique twist of rotating casts and music selections directly from our Young Artists.

Packed with humorous antics and lively music, you won’t want to miss your chance to witness the magic of opera in a beautiful setting! These 40-minute concerts are weather permitting. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating on the lawn.

1:00pm: Pagliacci

When passions ignite among a troupe of traveling players, the offstage drama spills into the performance in this new production of Pagliacci. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s comedy/thriller, inspired by a true crime report, contains two complete and overlapping stories in one compact work: a farce performed by a troupe of “pagliacci,” or clowns, and an all-too-real drama of jealous love. Our new production of this beloved opera adds a third frame, placing the opera within our immersive Festival with a pre-opera picnic performance - Lyrics on the Lawn - on our outdoor stage. What is real, and what is show?

MUSIC | Ruggero Leoncavallo
LIBRETTO | Ruggero Leoncavallo
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
OUTDOOR PICNIC PERFORMANCE | 40 minutes (begins one hour before curtain)
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCE | 1 hour and 45 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Brenna Corner
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

July 30, 2024

1:00pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 1, 2024

7:30pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 2, 2024

6:30pm: Lyrics on the Lawn

The Glimmerglass Festival’s commitment to community continues to evolve with our brand new outdoor performance series, Lyrics on the Lawn. Offered to the public and at no cost, Lyrics on the Lawn is a series of outdoor concerts that will take place one hour before performances of Pagliacci.

Get to know the characters of Pagliacci with the help of Holly Adams, The Glimmerglass Festival’s “clown-in-residence,” as she guides audiences on a captivating journey through several scenes that will introduce the audience to traditional commedia dell’arte characters. Each performance will follow a similar story arc with the unique twist of rotating casts and music selections directly from our Young Artists.

Packed with humorous antics and lively music, you won’t want to miss your chance to witness the magic of opera in a beautiful setting! These 40-minute concerts are weather permitting. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating on the lawn.

7:30pm: Pagliacci

When passions ignite among a troupe of traveling players, the offstage drama spills into the performance in this new production of Pagliacci. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s comedy/thriller, inspired by a true crime report, contains two complete and overlapping stories in one compact work: a farce performed by a troupe of “pagliacci,” or clowns, and an all-too-real drama of jealous love. Our new production of this beloved opera adds a third frame, placing the opera within our immersive Festival with a pre-opera picnic performance - Lyrics on the Lawn - on our outdoor stage. What is real, and what is show?

MUSIC | Ruggero Leoncavallo
LIBRETTO | Ruggero Leoncavallo
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
OUTDOOR PICNIC PERFORMANCE | 40 minutes (begins one hour before curtain)
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCE | 1 hour and 45 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Brenna Corner
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 3, 2024

1:00pm: La Calisto

The 2024 production of Cavalli’s La Calisto features Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley’s 2013 realization of the score, expanding Cavalli’s continuo and strings with original parts for winds and brass. Comedy and pathos, gods and mortals, and a few rutting satyrs for good measure—this sparkling early opera, which weaves together two myths of transformation, has it all. Written at the midpoint of Cavalli’s career, La Calisto was conceived to deliver maximum entertainment to its discerning Venetian public, resulting in a hilarious caper full of mistaken identities, raunchy trysts, and celestial magic. This bold take will be conducted by Ainsley, directed by Mo Zhou, and choreographed by Eric Sean Fogel.

MUSIC | Francesco Cavalli
LIBRETTO | Giovanni Faustini
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Rob Ainsley
DIRECTOR | Mo Zhou
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | Charlie Corcoran
COSTUME DESIGNER | Carlos Soto
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Amith Chandrashaker
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

5:30 pm: Festival Dinners

Enjoy dinner, drinks, and conversation with friends and artists from the 2024 Festival. The Horned Dorset will cater all Festival Dinners. Menus available in the spring; vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options always available.

Tickets: $75 per person

7:30pm: Elizabeth Cree

Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s modern masterpiece Elizabeth Cree rounds out the season’s mainstage roster in a new production directed by Alison Moritz, starring 2024 Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught. Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age. Elizabeth Cree is a work that combines the factual with the fictive and the historical with the imaginary. Initially written for a small chamber ensemble, Elizabeth Cree will be performed with an expanded string complement at Glimmerglass.

MUSIC | Kevin Puts
LIBRETTO | Mark Campbell
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour 40 minutes (no intermission)

CONDUCTOR | Kelly Kuo
DIRECTOR | Alison Moritz
SET DESIGNER | Edward Morris
COSTUME DESIGNER | Amanda Seymour
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kate Ashton
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

August 4, 2024

11:00 am: Preview Brunches

Get a sneak peek of the 2025 Festival season from Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley and members of the 2024 Young Artists Program while you enjoy a delicious brunch catered by The Horned Dorset. Menus available in the spring; vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options always available.

Tickets: $65 per person

1:00pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 5, 2024

1:00pm: La Calisto

The 2024 production of Cavalli’s La Calisto features Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley’s 2013 realization of the score, expanding Cavalli’s continuo and strings with original parts for winds and brass. Comedy and pathos, gods and mortals, and a few rutting satyrs for good measure—this sparkling early opera, which weaves together two myths of transformation, has it all. Written at the midpoint of Cavalli’s career, La Calisto was conceived to deliver maximum entertainment to its discerning Venetian public, resulting in a hilarious caper full of mistaken identities, raunchy trysts, and celestial magic. This bold take will be conducted by Ainsley, directed by Mo Zhou, and choreographed by Eric Sean Fogel.

MUSIC | Francesco Cavalli
LIBRETTO | Giovanni Faustini
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Rob Ainsley
DIRECTOR | Mo Zhou
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | Charlie Corcoran
COSTUME DESIGNER | Carlos Soto
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Amith Chandrashaker
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

August 6, 2024

12:00pm: Lyrics on the Lawn

The Glimmerglass Festival’s commitment to community continues to evolve with our brand new outdoor performance series, Lyrics on the Lawn. Offered to the public and at no cost, Lyrics on the Lawn is a series of outdoor concerts that will take place one hour before performances of Pagliacci.

Get to know the characters of Pagliacci with the help of Holly Adams, The Glimmerglass Festival’s “clown-in-residence,” as she guides audiences on a captivating journey through several scenes that will introduce the audience to traditional commedia dell’arte characters. Each performance will follow a similar story arc with the unique twist of rotating casts and music selections directly from our Young Artists.

Packed with humorous antics and lively music, you won’t want to miss your chance to witness the magic of opera in a beautiful setting! These 40-minute concerts are weather permitting. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating on the lawn.

1:00pm: Pagliacci

When passions ignite among a troupe of traveling players, the offstage drama spills into the performance in this new production of Pagliacci. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s comedy/thriller, inspired by a true crime report, contains two complete and overlapping stories in one compact work: a farce performed by a troupe of “pagliacci,” or clowns, and an all-too-real drama of jealous love. Our new production of this beloved opera adds a third frame, placing the opera within our immersive Festival with a pre-opera picnic performance - Lyrics on the Lawn - on our outdoor stage. What is real, and what is show?

MUSIC | Ruggero Leoncavallo
LIBRETTO | Ruggero Leoncavallo
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
OUTDOOR PICNIC PERFORMANCE | 40 minutes (begins one hour before curtain)
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCE | 1 hour and 45 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Brenna Corner
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

7:30pm: Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children

Glimmerglass is proud to present the world premiere of the youth opera Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children by Jens Ibsen and Cecelia Raker. Deep in the forest lives a gaggle of feral, unlovable children. They work their hands to the bone every day in service to the evil wizard Rumpelstiltskin…he makes them do chores! And brush their teeth regularly! And talk about their feelings! It’s the WORST. But then one day, Rumpel tells them the story of how his childhood friend, a talented businesswoman, got forced to marry the king. Suddenly all the Unlovable Children’s narratives about who they are begin to unravel. When Goldie, the eldest of them, learns that she’s actually the long-lost daughter of that Queen, she’s faced with a tough choice: go live the life she'd imagined as a princess, or stay with the unconventional family that has nurtured her true self?

MUSIC | Jens Ibsen
LIBRETTO | Cecelia Raker
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour

DIRECTOR | Joshua R. Horowitz
CHOREOGRAPHER | Amanda Testini*
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo

Tickets - $20 | Youth 12 and under - Free

August 8, 2024

1:00pm: Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children

Glimmerglass is proud to present the world premiere of the youth opera Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children by Jens Ibsen and Cecelia Raker. Deep in the forest lives a gaggle of feral, unlovable children. They work their hands to the bone every day in service to the evil wizard Rumpelstiltskin…he makes them do chores! And brush their teeth regularly! And talk about their feelings! It’s the WORST. But then one day, Rumpel tells them the story of how his childhood friend, a talented businesswoman, got forced to marry the king. Suddenly all the Unlovable Children’s narratives about who they are begin to unravel. When Goldie, the eldest of them, learns that she’s actually the long-lost daughter of that Queen, she’s faced with a tough choice: go live the life she'd imagined as a princess, or stay with the unconventional family that has nurtured her true self?

MUSIC | Jens Ibsen
LIBRETTO | Cecelia Raker
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour

DIRECTOR | Joshua R. Horowitz
CHOREOGRAPHER | Amanda Testini*
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo

Tickets - $20 | Youth 12 and under - Free

6:30pm: Lyrics on the Lawn

The Glimmerglass Festival’s commitment to community continues to evolve with our brand new outdoor performance series, Lyrics on the Lawn. Offered to the public and at no cost, Lyrics on the Lawn is a series of outdoor concerts that will take place one hour before performances of Pagliacci.

Get to know the characters of Pagliacci with the help of Holly Adams, The Glimmerglass Festival’s “clown-in-residence,” as she guides audiences on a captivating journey through several scenes that will introduce the audience to traditional commedia dell’arte characters. Each performance will follow a similar story arc with the unique twist of rotating casts and music selections directly from our Young Artists.

Packed with humorous antics and lively music, you won’t want to miss your chance to witness the magic of opera in a beautiful setting! These 40-minute concerts are weather permitting. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating on the lawn.

7:30pm: Pagliacci

When passions ignite among a troupe of traveling players, the offstage drama spills into the performance in this new production of Pagliacci. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s comedy/thriller, inspired by a true crime report, contains two complete and overlapping stories in one compact work: a farce performed by a troupe of “pagliacci,” or clowns, and an all-too-real drama of jealous love. Our new production of this beloved opera adds a third frame, placing the opera within our immersive Festival with a pre-opera picnic performance - Lyrics on the Lawn - on our outdoor stage. What is real, and what is show?

MUSIC | Ruggero Leoncavallo
LIBRETTO | Ruggero Leoncavallo
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
OUTDOOR PICNIC PERFORMANCE | 40 minutes (begins one hour before curtain)
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCE | 1 hour and 45 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Brenna Corner
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 9, 2024

5:30 pm: Festival Dinners

Enjoy dinner, drinks, and conversation with friends and artists from the 2024 Festival. The Horned Dorset will cater all Festival Dinners. Menus available in the spring; vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options always available.

Tickets: $75 per person

7:30pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 10, 2024

1:00pm: Elizabeth Cree

Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s modern masterpiece Elizabeth Cree rounds out the season’s mainstage roster in a new production directed by Alison Moritz, starring 2024 Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught. Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age. Elizabeth Cree is a work that combines the factual with the fictive and the historical with the imaginary. Initially written for a small chamber ensemble, Elizabeth Cree will be performed with an expanded string complement at Glimmerglass.

MUSIC | Kevin Puts
LIBRETTO | Mark Campbell
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour 40 minutes (no intermission)

CONDUCTOR | Kelly Kuo
DIRECTOR | Alison Moritz
SET DESIGNER | Edward Morris
COSTUME DESIGNER | Amanda Seymour
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kate Ashton
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

6:30pm: Lyrics on the Lawn

The Glimmerglass Festival’s commitment to community continues to evolve with our brand new outdoor performance series, Lyrics on the Lawn. Offered to the public and at no cost, Lyrics on the Lawn is a series of outdoor concerts that will take place one hour before performances of Pagliacci.

Get to know the characters of Pagliacci with the help of Holly Adams, The Glimmerglass Festival’s “clown-in-residence,” as she guides audiences on a captivating journey through several scenes that will introduce the audience to traditional commedia dell’arte characters. Each performance will follow a similar story arc with the unique twist of rotating casts and music selections directly from our Young Artists.

Packed with humorous antics and lively music, you won’t want to miss your chance to witness the magic of opera in a beautiful setting! These 40-minute concerts are weather permitting. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating on the lawn.

7:30pm: Pagliacci

When passions ignite among a troupe of traveling players, the offstage drama spills into the performance in this new production of Pagliacci. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s comedy/thriller, inspired by a true crime report, contains two complete and overlapping stories in one compact work: a farce performed by a troupe of “pagliacci,” or clowns, and an all-too-real drama of jealous love. Our new production of this beloved opera adds a third frame, placing the opera within our immersive Festival with a pre-opera picnic performance - Lyrics on the Lawn - on our outdoor stage. What is real, and what is show?

MUSIC | Ruggero Leoncavallo
LIBRETTO | Ruggero Leoncavallo
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
OUTDOOR PICNIC PERFORMANCE | 40 minutes (begins one hour before curtain)
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCE | 1 hour and 45 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Brenna Corner
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 11, 2024

11:00 am: Preview Brunches

Get a sneak peek of the 2025 Festival season from Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley and members of the 2024 Young Artists Program while you enjoy a delicious brunch catered by The Horned Dorset. Menus available in the spring; vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options always available.

Tickets: $65 per person

1:00pm: La Calisto

The 2024 production of Cavalli’s La Calisto features Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley’s 2013 realization of the score, expanding Cavalli’s continuo and strings with original parts for winds and brass. Comedy and pathos, gods and mortals, and a few rutting satyrs for good measure—this sparkling early opera, which weaves together two myths of transformation, has it all. Written at the midpoint of Cavalli’s career, La Calisto was conceived to deliver maximum entertainment to its discerning Venetian public, resulting in a hilarious caper full of mistaken identities, raunchy trysts, and celestial magic. This bold take will be conducted by Ainsley, directed by Mo Zhou, and choreographed by Eric Sean Fogel.

MUSIC | Francesco Cavalli
LIBRETTO | Giovanni Faustini
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Rob Ainsley
DIRECTOR | Mo Zhou
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | Charlie Corcoran
COSTUME DESIGNER | Carlos Soto
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Amith Chandrashaker
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

7:30pm: Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children

Glimmerglass is proud to present the world premiere of the youth opera Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children by Jens Ibsen and Cecelia Raker. Deep in the forest lives a gaggle of feral, unlovable children. They work their hands to the bone every day in service to the evil wizard Rumpelstiltskin…he makes them do chores! And brush their teeth regularly! And talk about their feelings! It’s the WORST. But then one day, Rumpel tells them the story of how his childhood friend, a talented businesswoman, got forced to marry the king. Suddenly all the Unlovable Children’s narratives about who they are begin to unravel. When Goldie, the eldest of them, learns that she’s actually the long-lost daughter of that Queen, she’s faced with a tough choice: go live the life she'd imagined as a princess, or stay with the unconventional family that has nurtured her true self?

MUSIC | Jens Ibsen
LIBRETTO | Cecelia Raker
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour

DIRECTOR | Joshua R. Horowitz
CHOREOGRAPHER | Amanda Testini*
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo

Tickets - $20 | Youth 12 and under - Free

August 12, 2024

1:00pm: Elizabeth Cree

Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s modern masterpiece Elizabeth Cree rounds out the season’s mainstage roster in a new production directed by Alison Moritz, starring 2024 Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught. Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age. Elizabeth Cree is a work that combines the factual with the fictive and the historical with the imaginary. Initially written for a small chamber ensemble, Elizabeth Cree will be performed with an expanded string complement at Glimmerglass.

MUSIC | Kevin Puts
LIBRETTO | Mark Campbell
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour 40 minutes (no intermission)

CONDUCTOR | Kelly Kuo
DIRECTOR | Alison Moritz
SET DESIGNER | Edward Morris
COSTUME DESIGNER | Amanda Seymour
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kate Ashton
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

6:00 PM: Pipeline Preview: The House on Mango Street

Join us for an exclusive first showing of The House on Mango Street, an opera in its developmental stages. This Pipeline Preview offers a unique opportunity to witness the birth of a captivating musical narrative based on best-selling author Sandra Cisneros’s classic novel of the same name. Engage with the creators, see the unfolding story, and contribute to shaping an opera that promises to captivate hearts. Don’t miss this exclusive chance to witness creativity in its purest form.

MUSIC | Derek Bermel
LIBRETTO | Sandra Cisneros

TICKETS | $35 per person

August 13, 2024

1:00pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 15, 2024

4:30pm: Horizons: Tara Erraught in Concert with 2024 Young Artists

Experience an extraordinary evening of music led by our 2024 Artist-in-residence, Tara Erraught. Together with Young Artists, Erraught will guide this intimate concert that promises an immersive journey through diverse musical landscapes. From breathtaking solos to harmonious ensemble pieces, be prepared for a captivating exploration of sound and expression from one of the world’s most celebrated singers and the next generation of operatic talent.

Tickets: $50 per person

7:30pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 16, 2024

5:30 pm: Festival Dinners

Enjoy dinner, drinks, and conversation with friends and artists from the 2024 Festival. The Horned Dorset will cater all Festival Dinners. Menus available in the spring; vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options always available.

Tickets: $75 per person

7:30pm: Elizabeth Cree

Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s modern masterpiece Elizabeth Cree rounds out the season’s mainstage roster in a new production directed by Alison Moritz, starring 2024 Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught. Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age. Elizabeth Cree is a work that combines the factual with the fictive and the historical with the imaginary. Initially written for a small chamber ensemble, Elizabeth Cree will be performed with an expanded string complement at Glimmerglass.

MUSIC | Kevin Puts
LIBRETTO | Mark Campbell
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour 40 minutes (no intermission)

CONDUCTOR | Kelly Kuo
DIRECTOR | Alison Moritz
SET DESIGNER | Edward Morris
COSTUME DESIGNER | Amanda Seymour
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kate Ashton
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

August 17, 2024

1:00pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

7:30pm: La Calisto

The 2024 production of Cavalli’s La Calisto features Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley’s 2013 realization of the score, expanding Cavalli’s continuo and strings with original parts for winds and brass. Comedy and pathos, gods and mortals, and a few rutting satyrs for good measure—this sparkling early opera, which weaves together two myths of transformation, has it all. Written at the midpoint of Cavalli’s career, La Calisto was conceived to deliver maximum entertainment to its discerning Venetian public, resulting in a hilarious caper full of mistaken identities, raunchy trysts, and celestial magic. This bold take will be conducted by Ainsley, directed by Mo Zhou, and choreographed by Eric Sean Fogel.

MUSIC | Francesco Cavalli
LIBRETTO | Giovanni Faustini
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Rob Ainsley
DIRECTOR | Mo Zhou
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | Charlie Corcoran
COSTUME DESIGNER | Carlos Soto
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Amith Chandrashaker
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

August 18, 2024

12:00pm: Lyrics on the Lawn

The Glimmerglass Festival’s commitment to community continues to evolve with our brand new outdoor performance series, Lyrics on the Lawn. Offered to the public and at no cost, Lyrics on the Lawn is a series of outdoor concerts that will take place one hour before performances of Pagliacci.

Get to know the characters of Pagliacci with the help of Holly Adams, The Glimmerglass Festival’s “clown-in-residence,” as she guides audiences on a captivating journey through several scenes that will introduce the audience to traditional commedia dell’arte characters. Each performance will follow a similar story arc with the unique twist of rotating casts and music selections directly from our Young Artists.

Packed with humorous antics and lively music, you won’t want to miss your chance to witness the magic of opera in a beautiful setting! These 40-minute concerts are weather permitting. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating on the lawn.

1:00pm: Pagliacci

When passions ignite among a troupe of traveling players, the offstage drama spills into the performance in this new production of Pagliacci. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s comedy/thriller, inspired by a true crime report, contains two complete and overlapping stories in one compact work: a farce performed by a troupe of “pagliacci,” or clowns, and an all-too-real drama of jealous love. Our new production of this beloved opera adds a third frame, placing the opera within our immersive Festival with a pre-opera picnic performance - Lyrics on the Lawn - on our outdoor stage. What is real, and what is show?

MUSIC | Ruggero Leoncavallo
LIBRETTO | Ruggero Leoncavallo
SUNG IN | Italian
PROJECTED TEXT | English
OUTDOOR PICNIC PERFORMANCE | 40 minutes (begins one hour before curtain)
MAINSTAGE PERFORMANCE | 1 hour and 45 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Brenna Corner
CHOREOGRAPHER | Eric Sean Fogel
SET DESIGNER | James Rotondo
COSTUME DESIGNER | Erik Teague
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 19, 2024

1:00pm: The Pirates of Penzance

The 2024 Festival will open with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in a vibrant production directed and choreographed by Seán Curran and conducted by Music Director Joseph Colaneri, featuring set and costume designs by James Schuette and lighting by Robert Wierzel. A Gilbert & Sullivan classic, combining soaring vocal lines and slapstick comedy, returns to Glimmerglass for the first time in nearly 20 years. This colorful, family-friendly production features elegant Victorian ladies and an aristocratic band of pirates stuck in perpetual adolescence. Curran’s hit production from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis kicks it up a notch at Glimmerglass with the addition of a corps of professional dancers.

MUSIC | Sir Arthur Sullivan
LIBRETTO | W.S. Gilbert
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED LYRICS | English
RUN TIME | 2 hours and 25 minutes

CONDUCTOR | Joseph Colaneri
DIRECTOR | Seán Curran
CHOREOGRAPHER | Seán Curran
SET DESIGNER | James Schuette
COSTUME DESIGNER | James Schuette
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Robert Wierzel
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson
CHORUS DIRECTOR | Katherine Kozak

August 20, 2024

1:00pm: Elizabeth Cree

Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s modern masterpiece Elizabeth Cree rounds out the season’s mainstage roster in a new production directed by Alison Moritz, starring 2024 Artist-in-Residence Tara Erraught. Set in London in the 1880s, this highly suspenseful and theatrical opera interweaves several narratives: the trial of the titular heroine for the poisoning of her husband; a series of brutal murders committed by a Jack the Ripper-style killer; the spirited world of an English music hall; and, finally, some “guest appearances” by luminaries from the Victorian Age. Elizabeth Cree is a work that combines the factual with the fictive and the historical with the imaginary. Initially written for a small chamber ensemble, Elizabeth Cree will be performed with an expanded string complement at Glimmerglass.

MUSIC | Kevin Puts
LIBRETTO | Mark Campbell
SUNG IN | English
PROJECTED TEXT | English
RUN TIME | 1 hour 40 minutes (no intermission)

CONDUCTOR | Kelly Kuo
DIRECTOR | Alison Moritz
SET DESIGNER | Edward Morris
COSTUME DESIGNER | Amanda Seymour
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Kate Ashton
HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGNER | Tom Watson

Fest Date: July 22 - August 20, 2024

Location: Alice Busch Opera Theater, 7300 State Highway 80, Cooperstown, NY 13326

Click here to buy tickets.

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