The Dallas Opera Reveals 2026/27 Season - THE ELIXIR OF LOVE, TURANDOT and More

The Dallas Opera revealed programming for its 2026/2027 Season at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. The company’s 69th season features four mainstage productions: Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Puccini’s Turandot with a new ending by Christopher Tin, and Wagner’s Lohengrin. The upcoming season also includes beloved annual events—including the Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors Showcase Concert, the Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Family Recital, and the Phyllis A. and Thomas H. McCasland, Jr. Lone Star Vocal Competition—and two family operas: The Little Prince and The Bremen Town Musicians.

Subscriptions are available for purchase starting today. Starting as low as $98 for all four operas.

2026/2027 Season Highlights

• A new ending of Turandot by Grammy Award–winning video game composer Christopher Tin and acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Susan Soon He Stanton

• A new production of Lohengrin from director Louis Désiré, who created TDO’s 2026 Don Carlo

• The US debut of soprano Mirjam Mesak in The Cunning Little Vixen

• Three recent Operalia winners: 2022 winner Anthony León and 2025 winner Mihai Damian both star in the season-opening The Elixir of Love; 2024 winner Kathleen O’Mara stars in the season finale, Lohengrin

"The 2026/2027 Season spans the breadth of what opera has to offer the world," says Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director Emmanuel Villaume, who conducts three productions in TDO's upcoming season. "The paradigm of Bel Canto music, the exhilarating The Elixir of Love is the perfect start to the season. I am eager to conduct the charming, bright The Cunning Little Vixen in its original Czech. There's a profundity to the message of Janáček's masterpiece. A winning classic, Turandot is always a favorite, and I am excited to explore this new, empowering ending by Christopher Tin and Susan Soon He Stanton. Finally, epic and big, Lohengrin is the ideal entry point into the Wagner repertoire with its radiant beauty."

Mainstage Productions

The season kicks off on Friday, October 9, 2026, with a captivating rendition of The Elixir of Love. Directed here by Stephen Lawless, this colorful production is set in post-World War II Italy. British Iranian coloratura soprano Soraya Mafi, 2022 Operalia winner Anthony León, legendary Italian baritone Alessandro Corbelli, 2025 Operalia winner Mihai Damian, and 2025 TDO Lone Star Vocal Competition winner Kayla Nanto all star in their Dallas Opera debuts. Spanish conductor Guillermo García Calvo makes his house debut leading The Dallas Opera Orchestra and Chorus in this production.

Following The Elixir of Love is the North American debut of Australian director Barrie Kosky’s production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, which premiered with the Bayerische Staatsoper. It is revived here by director Catharina von Bülow and conducted by Mrs. Eugene McDermott Music Director Emmanuel Villaume. This bold and glitzy production stars Estonian soprano Mirjam Mesak in her US debut as the Vixen. American baritone Zachary Nelson and Hungarian American mezzo-soprano Shannon Keegan also make their house debuts in this production, and American contralto Lindsay Ammann, who last appeared in TDO’s 2023 Das Rheingold, returns.

In February 2027, TDO will present Puccini’s Turandot, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume. First premiered by director Francesca Zambello with Washington National Opera, this production features a new ending with music by Grammy Award® winner and video game composer Christopher Tin (known for the Civilization IV game) and a libretto from Succession writer Susan Soon He Stanton. This ending could be heard at the 2026 Winter Olympics during Japanese figure skater Yuma Kagiyama’s silver-medal-winning free skate. The production will be revived in Dallas by Italian director Anna Maria Bruzzese, who directed TDO’s recent The Little Prince. Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi and Venezuelan tenor Jorge Puerta, both celebrated for their renditions of this opera, make their TDO debuts as Turandot and Calaf, respectively.

The 2026/2027 Season concludes in March 2027 with a new production of Wagner’s heroic myth Lohengrin. Director Louis Désiré returns to lead this premiere production, which is conducted by Emmanuel Villaume. Pavarotti d’Oro winner Saimir Pirgu, who dazzled Dallas audiences as Don José in the company’s 2025 Carmen, returns as the titular character. American soprano Lise Lindstrom, who starred in TDO’s 2014 Salome, and bass Peixin Chen, who last appeared in TDO’s 2023 Das Rheingold, both return. 2024 Operalia winner Kathleen O’Mara and Ukrainian-born American baritone Aleksey Bogdanov make their TDO debuts in this production.

“You cannot beat the casts that The Dallas Opera has assembled,” Villaume says. “The 2026/2027 Season celebrates the triumphant return of major artists such as Saimir Pirgu, Lindsay Ammann, Lise Lindstrom, and Peixin Chen. We also welcome landmark debuts from true operatic legends, including Alessandro Corbelli and Anna Pirozzi, alongside internationally acclaimed American stars such as Zachary Nelson, Gabriella Reyes, and Brandon Cedel. Among this extraordinary roster are First Prize Operalia winners Anthony León, Kathleen O’Mara, and Mihai Damian—artists whose careers are already shaping the international stage. The season further introduces an exciting new generation of global talent, including Mirjam Mesak, Soraya Mafi, and Shannon Keegan, whose voices represent the future of our art form. This is a season built on excellence, depth, and discovery.”

Annual Events

TDO will present its annual Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors Showcase Concert on Saturday, January 30, 2027, at the Winspear Opera House. Since 2015, this signature TDO program (HIWC) has trained more than 60 women conductors and administrators. The Hart Institute will announce its second-annual Martha R. and Preston A. Peak Fellowship recipient later this spring.

Following the HIWC Showcase Concert is the Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Family Recital during the same weekend. On Sunday, January 31, 2027, at Moody Performance Hall, TDO’s annual art song recital series will feature celebrated German soprano Christiane Karg and acclaimed pianist Andrew von Oeyen.

The Phyllis A. and Thomas H. McCasland, Jr. Lone Star Vocal Competition returns to The Dallas Opera this season on March 12, 2027. Hear rising opera stars from around Texas compete for cash prizes and the chance to boost their careers. Numerous prizewinners have gone on to star with TDO—and other companies—in mainstage productions, including 2025 First Place and People’s Choice winner Kayla Nanto, who appears in The Elixir of Love and The Cunning Little Vixen this season.

Family Presentations

Family operas return in the Fall and Spring of 2026/2027 with afternoon performances of The Little Prince, adapted from Rachel Portman’s mainstage opera, and The Bremen Town Musicians, featuring music by Offenbach, Rossini, Donizetti, Sullivan, and Verdi. Each opera has a shorter run time and family content that is suitable for all ages. TDO presents The Bremen Town Musicians on Saturday, October 17, 2026, and Sunday, February 21, 2027, and The Little Prince on Sunday, November 8, 2026, and Saturday, February 13, 2027.