Patrick Summers and Sahar Nouri to Conduct Opera Colorado

Opera Colorado today announced its conductors for the 2026–27 season. Sahar Nouri, the company's chorus director since 2016, makes her mainstage conducting debut with The Snowy Day, February 25–28, and also conducts The School for Lovers (Così fan tutte), May 1–9, 2027. She joins Patrick Summers, whose Opera Colorado debut conducting Verdi's Macbeth, November 7–15, was announced in September.

“Patrick and Sahar both bring deep connection to Colorado audiences,” said Barbara Lynne Jamison, Ellie Caulkins Artistic Director & CEO. “Patrick has spent many summers leading music in Aspen. Sahar has been an influential force in Denver's classical music scene for over a decade, preparing our singers for the mainstage, and training vocal music majors at the University of Denver. It is exciting to have their talents on the podium this season.”

Ari Pelto, Opera Colorado's first music director, departs the company after more than a decade. Pelto was recently appointed music director and chief conductor of the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera.

“The orchestra that Ari built at Opera Colorado is foundational to the opera we produce and an important part of our company's identity,” said Jamison. “I'm grateful for his commitment to building this orchestra and the musical legacy he leaves to this company.”

Nouri has been music director of Lamont Opera Theater at the University of Denver since 2019. At Opera Colorado, she has worked on more than 20 productions, including The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, the other two Mozart and Da Ponte operas, as well as Carmen, La traviata, The Shining, and the world premiere of Gerald Cohen's Steal a Pencil for Me. As a guest conductor, she led The Magic Flute at the Prague Summer Nights Festival and Figaro at the University of Michigan.

Iranian American conductor and pianist Sahar Nouri has worked with some of the most notable artists in the opera industry. She has served on the music staff of San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, and the Glimmerglass Festival, among others. She is in demand as a language coach and has given recitals across the United States. She began her career as a violinist with the Tehran Philharmonic Orchestra.

The School for Lovers follows two couples drawn into a revealing experiment, where disguises, temptation, and dangerous assumptions threaten the love they set out to test. Opera Colorado's Bridgerton-inspired production leans into both the sparkle and sting of Mozart's comedy.

In February, Nouri will conduct Opera Colorado's first mainstage opera for young audiences and their families. The Snowy Day is a one-hour youth opera by Joel Thompson and Andrea Davis Pinkney, inspired by Ezra Jack Keats's Caldecott Medal-winning children's book.

Macbeth opens Opera Colorado's 2026–27 mainstage season on November 7. Patrick Summers spent more than 25 years in senior artistic leadership roles at Houston Grand Opera, where he is now music director emeritus. He has led nearly 20 world premieres, including operas by Jake Heggie, Carlisle Floyd, and André Previn, and has conducted at the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In Colorado, Summers is co-artistic director of Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS at the Aspen Music Festival, alongside Renée Fleming.

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

• Verdi's Macbeth: Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.
• Thompson/Davis Pinkney's The Snowy Day: Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m., Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.
• Mozart's The School for Lovers (Così fan tutte): Ellie Caulkins Opera House, May 1 at 7:30 p.m., May 4 at 7:30 p.m., May 7 at 7:30 p.m., May 9 at 2 p.m.