Carlisle Floyd Centennial To Celebrate The Composer's Legacy Worldwide In 2026
International opera productions, concerts, and academic initiatives mark the composer's 100th birthday, including a landmark Carnegie Hall celebration.
By: A.A. Cristi Jan. 08, 2026
The Carlisle Floyd Centennial will present an international celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the composer's birth on June 11, 2026, recognizing his lasting role in American opera and his deep ties to the cultural life of the American South.
Spanning the full 2026 calendar year and extending into the 2026–27 season, the Centennial encompasses more than 50 performances, including staged opera productions, major orchestral presentations, and academic initiatives across the United States and abroad, with additional performances and initiatives to be announced throughout the year. (See chronological listing below.)
A centerpiece of the Centennial will take place on June 20, 2026, at Carnegie Hall, nearly 100 years to the day after Floyd's birth. The Carlisle Floyd Centennial Celebration Concert will feature conductor Christopher James Ray, Executive Director of the Carlisle Floyd Centennial, leading soprano Gabriella Reyes, baritones Edward Nelson and Reginald Smith Jr., and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, joined by the Florida State University and University of Houston choirs, with other special guests to be announced. Composer Jake Heggie, a close friend and mentee of Floyd, will serve as host. The program brings together Floyd's orchestral overture In Celebration and vocal selections drawn from several of his most widely performed and influential operas.
Fully staged productions of Susannah anchor the opening months of the Centennial, with performances in January and February 2026 at Loyola University in New Orleans, Opera Omaha (directed by Patricia Racette), and Kennet Opera in the United Kingdom, followed by a major staged run at Sarasota Opera from March 14–28, 2026, further affirming the opera's central place in the repertoire.
The Centennial also features a sustained orchestral focus, with arias and other works from Susannah performed by major orchestras in the United States and Europe. Highlights include the aria “Trees on the Mountains,” sung by soprano Golda Schultz with the New York Philharmonic on April 8, 9, and 10, 2026 at Geffen Hall, and by soprano Janai Brugger with the Charlotte Symphony on March 27, 28, and 29, 2026; both performances are conducted by Kwamé Ryan. Reflecting the opera's reach on both sides of the Atlantic during the centennial year, “Ain't It a Pretty Night” will be performed by the Lima Symphony Orchestra in Ohio and the Jenaer Philharmonie in Germany, and was recently presented by the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen as part of its New Year's celebration. Additional orchestral performances include the Memphis Symphony, conducted by Robert Moody, performing the Orchestral Suite from Susannah.
Odyssey Opera in Boston will present Floyd's monodrama Flower and Hawk on February 21, 2026, at Jordan Hall. Conducted by Gil Rose and featuring soprano Sarah Coburn, this rare staging will be recorded live for future release on BMOP Sound, preserving a seldom-heard work as part of the Centennial year.
Another significant focus of the Centennial is a newly created production of Of Mice and Men, directed by Kristine McIntyre and co-produced by Houston Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Florida State University. Performances will take place at Houston Grand Opera on March 13 and 15, 2026, followed by Kansas City in May 2026, and Des Moines from June 27 through July 18, 2026, reflecting both the opera's continued relevance and Floyd's longstanding ties to these institutions.
A major Southern presentation of the Centennial will take place in New Orleans, where New Orleans Opera and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra will present Floyd's Pilgrimage as an immersive operatic experience on April 1, 2026, at the New Marigny Theatre, conducted by Matthew Kraemer. Long regarded as one of Floyd's most personal works, Pilgrimage reflects his engagement with Southern history and musical tradition, placing the performance in a region central to his artistic outlook.
A double bill of Floyd's one-act operas Slow Dusk and the rarely performed The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair — a colonial-era work about allegiance and identity — will be presented by Mission Opera in Santa Clarita, CA, on April 11 and 12, 2026, conducted by Christopher James Ray.
Academic and training programs also play a central role in the Centennial. Continuing the composer's commitment to emerging artists, Floyd's operas will be presented at universities across the country. In addition to Susannah at Loyola University and Of Mice and Men at Florida State University, the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston will present Floyd's one-act operas Slow Dusk, in its Houston premiere, paired with Markheim, the latter of which will also be staged at the University of South Carolina, where a major exhibition of his papers will be on display at the South Caroliniana Library.
Born in Latta, South Carolina, Carlisle Floyd drew deeply on the musical traditions, narratives, and vernacular of the American South throughout his career. He taught at Florida State University in Tallahassee from 1947 to 1976, during which time he composed many of his most enduring operas, including Susannah, Wuthering Heights, Of Mice and Men, and Pilgrimage. In 1976 he joined the faculty at the University of Houston, where he taught until his retirement in 1996, and co-founded the Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio in collaboration with then HGO General Director David Gockley. This influential young artist training program helped launch the careers of numerous opera singers and continues to be a cornerstone of American opera training. Floyd maintained lasting connections to both Tallahassee and Houston throughout his life, and these institutional ties form a backbone of the Centennial with performances and collaborations rooted in both regions.
Although Floyd passed away in 2021, his operas remain central to the repertoire. Widely regarded as a visionary and often described as the father of American opera, Floyd shaped a distinctly American operatic voice grounded in dramatic clarity, regional identity, and literary depth. Susannah, with more than 200 productions worldwide, remains among the most frequently performed American operas. Of Mice and Men continues to be programmed by companies seeking American works with narrative clarity and musical focus. Other operas, including Willie Stark, Cold Sassy Tree, and Prince of Players, along with choral and orchestral works such as A Time to Dance and Citizen of Paradise, demonstrate the breadth of his output.
The Carlisle Floyd Centennial is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and advancing the composer's legacy through performance, scholarship, and education. The Centennial works in partnership with opera companies, orchestras, universities, libraries, and publishers, including Houston Grand Opera, Boosey and Hawkes, the University of Houston, Florida State University, and The South Caroliniana Library. For more information about the Carlisle Floyd Centennial and performances in 2026, visit carlislefloyd.org.
CARLISLE FLOYD CENTENNIAL EVENTS
Additional performances and initiatives to be announced
throughout the centennial year
Susannah
Loyola University
New Orleans, LA | Louis J. Roussel Performance Hall
January 30 and February 1, 2026
Susannah
Opera Omaha
Omaha, NE | Orpheum Theater
Steven White, conductor
Patricia Racette, director
Susannah: Caitlin Lynch
Olin Blitch: Andrew Potter
Sam Polk: Robert Stahley
Elder McLean: Thomas Gunther
January 30, 31, and February 1, 2026
Susannah
Kennet Opera
Newbury, UK | Shaw House
David Wordsworth, conductor
January 31 and February 1, 2026
Orchestral Suite from Susannah
Memphis Symphony
Memphis, TN | Cannon Center for the Performing Arts
Robert Moody, conductor
“Ain't it a pretty night” from Susannah
Jenaer Philharmonie
Jena, Germany | Volkshaus/Ernst-Abbe-Saal
Daniel Spaw, conductor and presenter
Anne Elizabeth Sorbara, soprano
Flower and Hawk
Odyssey Opera
Boston, MA | Jordan Hall
Gil Rose, conductor
Sarah Coburn, soprano
“Ain't it a pretty night” from Susannah
Lima Symphony Orchestra
Lima, OH | Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center
Andrew Crust, conductor
Tracy Cantin, soprano
Of Mice and Men
Houston, TX | Cullen Theater
Benjamin Manis, conductor
Kristine McIntyre, director
Lennie Small: Demetrious Sampson, Jr.
George Milton: Sam Dhobhany
Curley's Wife: Alissa Goretsky
Curley: Shawn Roth
Candy: Ziniu Zhao
Susannah
Sarasota Opera
Sarasota, FL | Sarasota Opera House
Jessé Martins, conductor
Martha Collins, director
Susannah: Hanna Brammer
Olin Blitch: Jason Zacher
Sam Polk: Jeremy Brauner
Elder McLean: Brian Kontes
“Trees on the Mountains” from Susannah
Charlotte Symphony
Charlotte, NC | Knight Theater
Kwamé Ryan, conductor
Janai Brugger, soprano
“Ain't it a pretty night” from Susannah
Jenaer Philharmonie
Arnstadt, Germany | Theater im Schlossgarten
Daniel Spaw, conductor and presenter
Anne Elizabeth Sorbara, soprano
Pilgrimage
New Orleans Opera and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
New Orleans, LA | New Marigny Theatre
Matthew Kraemer, conductor
“Trees on the Mountains” from Susannah
New York Philharmonic
New York, NY | Geffen Hall
Kwamé Ryan, conductor
Golda Schultz, soprano
Markheim
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC | School of Music Recital Hall
Videos