The Minnesota Opera

In 2024-2025, throughout the Minnesota Opera's 62nd season, the company continued to build on the company's long legacy of producing innovative new work as well as presenting heritage repertoire with tremendous musicality and promising fresh directorial perspectives. In doing so, it routinely demonstrates the art form's ability to cross ideological, generational, and class boundaries, providing a time and place to connect people in pursuit of a more empathetic, equitable, and joyful life. Continuing on Schedule O The season began with Glam Jam, a public benefit concert featuring the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and a roster of guest vocalists providing a snapshot of the breadth and depth of the company's artistic legacy, with work ranging from Mozart and Verdi to Grever, Sondheim, and Heggie. There were 802 attendees at the Glam Jam. The evening also honored community volunteers through the presentation of the Forte Awards for community leadership, philanthropy, and corporate citizenship. The current class of the company's Resident Artist Program complemented the guest artist roster for a spectacular musical evening.The season continued with the first fully staged operatic presentation of the season, Romeo and Juliet by Charles Gounod, with musical direction by Principal Conductor Christopher Franklin, and stage direction by Company Artist Stage Director Margaret Jumonville, based on the original concept staging of Matthew Ozawa. Minnesota Native, tenor Evan LeRoy Johnson made his company debut as Romeo, with frequent guest artist Jasmine Habersham singing Juliet. Recent Resident Artist alumnus Charles H. Eaton returned to sing Mercutio, with bass Adam Lau performing the role of Frere Laurent opposite another Resident Artist graduate, Victoria Vargas as Gertrude. Gounod's retelling of this Shakespeare classic reminds us that we have more in common than we do that separates us, and that humanity's unchecked baser instinct towards tribalism rarely offers a rewarding ending. Attendance at Romeo and Juliet over four performances totaled 5,747 patrons.The company's season continued with the operatic adaptation of the Caldecott-Award Winning book, The Snowy Day. The opera, first commissioned by Houston Grand Opera from composer Joel Thompson and librettist Andrea Pinkney was performed with a brand-new full orchestration commissioned from Thompson for the MN Opera Orchestra. Kelly Kuo served as conductor for this production and Eboni Adams was Director and Choreographer for the show. Raven McMillon, who premiered the role in Houston, returned to interpret the role for these performances, and was joined by Leah Hawkins as Mama, Zulimar Lopez-Hernandez as Amy, and John M'buru as Daddy. An outstanding cast brought the fleeting but indelible, magical memories of childhood to the stage for a multi-generational audience at each performance. Attendance at The Snowy Day over four performances totaled 4,888 patrons.A series of six artist-driven musical events took place during the season, from November through March, under the MNOP+ banner, featuring guest and resident artists to allow audiences a more intimate examination of some of the depth of talent working with the company outside of the opera stage. The Company returned to the Ordway at the end of the performance season with a staging of The Barber of Seville, welcoming Principal Conductor Christopher Franklin back to the podium and Chuck Hudson back to the company as Production Stage Director. Two casts alternated performances of the sparkling Rossini comedy, with Katherine Beck and Kara Morgan sharing the role of Rosina, opposite the Almavivas of Lunga Eric Hallam and David Walton, and two artists as Figaro, Takaoki Onishi and David Wolfe. Attendance at The Barber of Seville over seven performances totaled 8,674 patrons.This marked the first season in some time that the company moved all of its final dress rehearsals to the daytime, allowing an opportunity for students to attend all final rehearsals before the production opened officially to the public. A total of 759 students attended the dress rehearsals. Finally, MN Opera's commitment to New Works remains strong. In preparation for next season's premiere of My Name is Florence, by composer B. E. Boykin and Harrison David Rivers, the company held a public "first listen" of the piece in May. This marked the first time that community members had an opportunity to hear the full orchestration of this new work, and the most complete idea of how the piece will play at its premiere. The work follows the life of prolific American composer Florence Price, who made history as the first Black woman to have a symphony performed by a major U.S. orchestra.Additionally, the company held a piano workshop to help bring The Many Deaths of Laila Starr to life on the opera stage. The work, based on the graphic novel of the name by Ram V., is being created by Kamala Sankaram as composer and Minita Gandhi as librettist. It marks the first time an opera company of our size is adapting a graphic novel as an opera.MN Opera continued to offer opportunities for people of all ages to connect to our art-making outside of performance halls. The company worked with the Ordway to bring back new performances of NOOMA, an interactive opera for babies co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Minnesota Opera, and San Francisco Opera. We also continued the company's middle- and high school training programs with our teaching artists through Youth Opera Circle and Youth Opera Studio, Stories Sing in libraries throughout the Twin Cities, and Opera Connections for Senior Communities to continue lifelong learning and engagement with musical storytelling.The Luminary Arts Center marked its third season with an outstanding array of creative, artistic and inspirational works, allowing artists across many disciplines and communities to unleash their powers of discovery and imagination. The Luminary Arts Center hosted 1,417 artists and 29,519 audience members throughout the year.