LA BOHEME, SALOME and More Set for Seattle Opera 2026/27 Season

The full lineup of titles and artists has been revealed for Seattle Opera's 2026/27 season. An exploration of love in all its facets, the company's 63rd season features two classic operas returning to Seattle for the first time in a quarter century, the Seattle premiere of a celebrated new Spanish-language opera, and a new-to-Seattle production of one of the most enduring classics in the repertoire, directed by Seattle Opera's own James Robinson.

Salome

October 17, 23, 25, 28, & 31, 2026

The season opens with Salome, Richard Strauss's shocking portrait of desire, violence, and power that has been a source of morbid fascination for audiences since its premiere in 1905. Based on Oscar Wilde's play of the same name, Salome returns to Seattle Opera for the first time since 2002 in a production from director Bruno Ravella that first appeared at Irish National Opera in 2024. American conductor Benjamin Manis, a rising star on the US opera scene, will conduct.

Soprano Brenda Rae takes on the title role for the first time. “This is certainly a departure from my typical repertoire, but it's a role I've been thinking about and growing into for some time and I think it fits my voice well,” said Rae, who last appeared in Seattle in Semele in 2015, where she was called “glorious” (Seattle Weekly) and a “vocal and theatrical triumph” (Bachtrack). “To have the chance to play a character as daring and enigmatic as Salome is a thrill and I'm eager to explore the different dimensions that make her such a powerful figure in operatic history.”

Joining Rae in the cast are several singers making their Seattle Opera debuts, including tenor Chad Shelton as Herod, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Herodias, baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky as Jochanaan, and tenor Joseph Tancredi as Narraboth.

The entire creative team will make their company debuts: Scenery and Costume Designer Leslie Travers, Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth, Original Choreographer Liz Roche, and Associate Director & Choreographer Carmine de Amicis.

Jamie Barton in Recital

November 21, 2026

In November, audiences will have the chance to hear celebrated mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, “opera's nose-studded rock star” (The New York Times), up close and personal in a recital at the Opera Center. Barton, whose Seattle Opera debut as Fenena in Nabucco ('15) was called “dazzling” by The Seattle Times, has established a reputation as one of the most exciting artists working in opera today, so this is an evening that is not to be missed.

Anita Spritzer's Gay Apparel

December 11, 13, & 19, 2026

To celebrate the glitz and glitter of the holiday season, Seattle's favorite opera queen, the big, bold, belting babe of the PNW, Anita Spritzer, is back for another round of holiday cheer in Gay Apparel. Full of “quick-witted storytelling, comedy and song” (The Seattle Times), this operatic twist on the classic Christmas special is sure to capture the spirit of the season with humor and heart.

El último sueño de Frida y Diego

January 16, 20, 23, 24, 28, & 30, 2027

Kicking off the new year, Seattle Opera presents one of the most celebrated new operas of the last five years, from Latin Grammy Award-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Nilo Cruz. El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego) is a magical realist portrait of two of the twentieth century's most distinctive and influential artists. Set during the annual festival of El Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), when the dead can cross over to visit the living, the opera follows Mexican muralist Diego Rivera as he reaches the end of his life and longs to see his beloved Frida Kahlo again. Although wary of life and its pain, Frida is drawn back to the world of the living by her love for Diego and the desire to paint again.

Compared with more straightforward “biopic”-style operas, El último sueño paints a more metaphorical, mythical portrait of its subjects. “When Nilo Cruz and I were first approached with the idea for this project, Frida Kahlo's story was becoming widely known—the Salma Hayek film Frida, for example, had just come out a few years earlier,” said Gabriela Lena Frank, who was embarking on what would become her first opera. “So Nilo suggested that, because these two artists worked partly in the realm of fantasy and surrealism, the Día de Muertos was the perfect way into their story. In this case, to be fantastical was to reveal more truth; and to take a bigger risk! But what is not lost is the intimacy between Frida and Diego, the little moments between them that make them real people. That gives the audience the feeling that they really know them.”

The opera premiered at San Diego Opera in 2022 and has since played to great acclaim at LA Opera and San Francisco Opera. This spring, it travels to Lyric Opera of Chicago and The Metropolitan Opera in New York. In Seattle, Carolyn Kuan, Music Director of the Hartford Symphony and former Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony, will conduct. The creative team features the Seattle Opera debuts of Director Lorena Maza, Set Designer Jorge Ballina, Costume Designer Eloise Kazan, and Lighting Designer Victor Zapatero. Seattle Opera Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta will prepare the chorus.

Argentine mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack (Beatrice and Benedict '18) and Mexican baritone Alfredo Daza (SO debut) appear in the title roles, along with the Seattle Opera debuts of soprano Mei Gui Zhang as Catrina and countertenor Jake Ingbar as Leonardo.

The previously announced world premiere of Huang Ruo's The Wedding Banquet will move to a future season.

Lakmé in Concert

March 5 & 7, 2027

In March, Seattle Opera offers the next in its series of concert operas with Léo Delibes's romantic fantasy Lakmé, returning to McCaw Hall for the first time since 2000. This rarely performed opera, a showpiece for soprano, features some of opera's most enduring melodies, the famous “Flower Duet” and “Bell Song.” Taking on the title role is soprano Aigul Khismatullina in her Seattle Opera debut. Joining her are tenor David Portillo (Frederic, The Pirates of Penzance '25) as Gérald, baritone Christian Pursell (Escamillo, Carmen '26) as Frédéric, and the Seattle Opera debuts of bass-baritone Nicholas Newton as Nilakantha and mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu as Mallika.

Daniela Candillari, Principal Conductor at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, will lead nearly 60 members of the Seattle Symphony and 50 members of the Seattle Opera Chorus, prepared by Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta.

La bohème

May 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 21, 22, & 23, 2027

Closing the season is a new-to-Seattle production of an all-time classic, Giacomo Puccini's La bohème. Directed by Seattle Opera General and Artistic Director James Robinson, this production, which debuted at Santa Fe Opera in 2025, sets the story in Paris in the 1920s, at the height of the Jazz Age.

“The period between the world wars in Paris was one of great opportunity, but also one of great economic inequality,” said Robinson. “Artists were flocking to the city to soak in the glitz and glamor of the Années folles—the ‘crazy years'—but it was often hard to make ends meet. That precarity, combined with the period's increasing social freedoms for women, puts the plights of these familiar characters into stark relief and emphasizes double-edged sword of the Bohemian life.”

Double-cast in the principal roles are sopranos Sylvia D'Eramo (SO debut) and Mané Galoyan (Violetta, La traviata '23) as Mimì, tenors Long Long and Anthony Ciaramitaro in their company debuts as Rodolfo, and baritones Szymon Mechliński (SO debut) and Luke Sutliff (Figaro, The Barber of Seville '24) as Marcello. Also making their Seattle Opera debuts are soprano Emma Marhefka as Musetta, bass-baritone Le Bu as Colline, and baritone Korin Thomas-Smith as Schaunard.

Roberto Kalb, Music Director of Detroit Opera, will conduct the production, following house debuts at The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Staatsoper Stuttgart. Also featured on the creative team are several returning faces, including Set Designer Allen Moyer (The Flying Dutchman '16), Costume Designer Constance Hoffman (Julius Caesar '07), and Lighting Designer Duane Schuler (The Magic Flute, '17). Michaella Calzaretta will prepare the chorus.

Following the successes of the school-day matinee performances of Jubilee and The Pirates of Penzance, the run of La bohème will also feature a special performance for students and school groups on Tuesday, May 18, 2027.

Opera Classes

Throughout the season, opera-lovers and new fans alike will have the opportunity to learn more about their favorite art form in a series of opera classes taught by Seattle Opera staffers.

·        Opera 101
Wednesdays, Sept. 2–Oct. 7, 6:30–8:00 PM, Zoom Webinar

A gathering for music lovers, this lively and informative course will help you make sense of this larger-than-life art form by giving you some essential opera terms and taking you on a listening tour of some of the most popular operas in the repertoire.

·        The Operas of Richard Strauss
Tuesdays, Sept. 29–Nov. 3, 7:00–8:30 PM, the Opera Center
Join Dramaturg Jonathan Dean and fellow opera-lovers in person to explore what “modern music” really means and to trace the surprising twists in Strauss's long and influential career. Students will attend and discuss our production of Salome (sold separately). We will also look at many of Strauss's other operas, songs, and tone poems.

·        Opera & Literature
Tuesdays, Feb. 9–Mar. 23, 6:30–8:00 PM, Zoom Webinar
In this six-week program, Dramaturg Jonathan Dean explores the fascinating connections between operas and their literary sources and will illuminate the way in which opera enhances storytelling through music. Learn more about how stories pass from hand to hand, form to form, and culture to culture.