EINSTEIN ON THE BEACH to Mark 50th Anniversary of Philip Glass Work
Details on the milestone celebration of the groundbreaking opera are expected to follow.
Philip Glass, one of America's most esteemed composers, will celebrate his 90th birthday on January 31, 2027. The multi-season celebration includes the 50th anniversary of Glass and the late Bob Wilson's seminal theater work Einstein on the Beach.
Fifty years on from its 1976 premiere, Einstein on the Beach remains one of the defining artistic works of the 20th century: changing expectations of what opera could be, Einstein expanded the possibilities of the art form. It broke nearly every convention of opera; a five-hour work without a traditional narrative, the work demonstrated that opera could be built from image, movement, repetition, and music, opening new creative paths for composers, directors, choreographers, and designers.
Held in memory of Wilson, the 50th anniversary is both a celebration and a new chapter. The Philip Glass Ensemble returns with a concert version in major cities worldwide, starting at the Brooklyn Academy of Music November 2026, while a major new fully staged experiential production created by English National Opera, Factory International, Park Avenue Armory and Improbable, directed by Phelim McDermott, is to premiere June 2027 at Aviva Studios, Manchester, UK. Narva Opera Festival presents a one-evening-only new staged production in Narva, Estonia on August 15, 2026, and ICTUS and Collegium Vocale Gent continue their concert version tour in Fall 2026. On the date of the 50th Anniversary, July 25th, late Bob Wilson's annual benefit at the Watermill Center honored the work with special excerpts and 'inspired by' performances. More special moments to be announced.
Created by Robert Wilson and Philip Glass in 1976, the original production premiered at the Avignon Festival on July 25, 1976, causing a rave of discourse about upending conventions of score, plot and staging wherever it went on its initial tour across Europe. In a watershed cultural moment, the opera arrived at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in November 1976 with two performances which became the stuff of myth. Subsequent productions brought the Wilson/Glass vision into focus, including 1984 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music which incorporated choreography by Lucinda Childs for the first time. Glass and Wilson's direct involvement culminated in a touring production 2012-2015, for the last time under the supervision of the original creators, which harnessed the latest technical advances, especially in Wilson's lighting, and the crystalline musical fluency of the Philip Glass Ensemble.
Einstein on the Beach has influenced multiple generations of creatives in and out of the field of opera. The work's visual language, staging, lighting, choreography, and score have resonated across theater, dance, film, fashion, and popular culture, making it one of the most influential works of contemporary performance. Since its original production, new directors and companies took on Einstein on the Beach, including productions in Stuttgart (1988), Dortmund (2017), Geneva (2019), Kanagawa (2022), Basel, Berlin and Vienna (2021-22), Buenos Aires (2024) and a recent traveling production by ICTUS ensemble. The work celebrates 50 years with new productions, and performances by the original performers of the work, The Philip Glass Ensemble, all in honor of the late Bob Wilson.
Philip's 90th birthday seasons of notable performances and events also include: the world premiere performances of Glass' Symphony No. 15: Lincoln, the first of which was held in Boston at Tanglewood on July 5, with following premieres in Santa Cruz July 31, and in Newport News, Virginia in September; global celebrations across opera, theater, dance, symphony and chamber concerts, film and special performances; and special releases from Orange Mountain Music. Find a full calendar of announced performances below.
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