Berkshire Opera Festival Celebrates 10th Anniversary With New LA TRAVIATA and Gala Concert This Summer

Berkshire Opera Festival (BOF) launches its 10th Anniversary Season this summer with a brand-new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata and a celebratory 10th Anniversary Concert, both presented at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA.

The only company of its kind in the region, BOF has grown in national prominence through bold, fully staged productions, acclaimed casts, and sold-out performances. Led by co-founders Brian Garman (conductor) and Jonathon Loy (director), the 2025 season marks a significant milestone for the company.

LA TRAVIATA

Performances will take place on Saturday, August 23 at 1:00 PM (with a pre-show talk at 12:00 PM), Tuesday, August 26 at 7:30 PM, and Friday, August 29 at 7:30 PM at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. Tickets start at $20 and are available at berkshireoperafestival.org/traviata. The opera will be sung in Italian with projected English supertitles.

The cast includes soprano Vanessa Becerra as Violetta Valéry, tenor Joshua Blue as Alfredo Germont, and baritone Darren Drone as Giorgio Germont. They are joined by Erin Reppenhagen, Maximillian Jansen, John Cheek, Yazid Gray, and Adam Partridge, along with the Berkshire Opera Festival Orchestra and Chorus.

The creative team includes conductor Brian Garman, stage director Jonathon Loy, scenic designer Hannah Postlethwaite, Costume Designer Brooke Stanton, and lighting designers Alex Jainchill and Alejandro Fajardo. Additional members of the team include hair and makeup designer Beckie Kravetz, choreographer Sara Erde, assistant conductor and chorus master Luca Antonucci, principal coach and pianist Travis Bloom, musical preparer Dakota Perez, supertitles author Cori Ellison, and production stage manager Cindy Knight.

Making her BOF debut as Violetta, Vanessa Becerra brings a voice praised for its vibrancy and emotional range. Joshua Blue, returning to BOF following his performance in Don Giovanni, has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera. Darren Drone, who has sung with companies including the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, completes the leading trio.

10TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

The 10th Anniversary Concert will take place on Thursday, August 14 at 7:30 PM at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at berkshireoperafestival.org/10ac.

This celebratory program features arias and ensembles from operas including Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Aida, The Marriage of Figaro, and others. Performers include Vanessa Becerra, Joshua Blue, Raquel González, Darren Drone, Viktor Antipenko, Yazid Gray, John Cheek, Erin Reppenhagen, Maximillian Jansen, and Adam Partridge. They will be joined by the BOF Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Brian Garman.

Berkshire Opera Festival has also announced its 2026 mainstage production: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, starring Christine Lyons, Terrence Chin-Loy, Dean Murphy, and Stefan Egerstrom. Performances are scheduled for August 22, 25, and 28, 2026, at the Mahaiwe.