RING FESTIVAL 2029 to Bring Two Wagner Cycles to Atlanta Opera
Principal conductor Iván López Reynoso leads the cycle at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
The Atlanta Opera will present Ring Festival 2029, two full cycles of performances of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in June 2029. Allowing audiences the rare opportunity to see the complete cycle within the span of a week, the festival will feature the celebrated productions of the four individual operas directed by Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun that began in 2023 and concluded this past spring, and will be conducted by Principal Conductor Iván López Reynoso.
Zvulun comments: “Ring Festival 2029 is a transformative moment for us and for Atlanta. The first completely new Ring cycle in America in the 2020s. The first Ring ever presented in the American Southeast. And it's happening in a city that has proven, time and time again, that it belongs on the world stage. This festival will bring International Artists, music lovers, and cultural travelers to Atlanta from across the country and around the globe as we create a full civic celebration. From the Cobb Center to our new home on Atlanta's Beltline, the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts, we will create a cultural gathering place, where performances, surrounding events and the warmth of our city come together around one of music's greatest masterworks. The art, the conversation, the community: this is what The Atlanta Opera was built for.” Festival 2029 will welcome audiences from across the U.S. and abroad to Atlanta. Festival programming beyond the mainstage performances will place a special spotlight on TAO's new facility, the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts, currently under construction along the Atlanta Beltline corridor and scheduled to open in fall 2027. Back-view rendering of the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts (courtesy of The Atlanta Opera) The Molly Blank Center will serve as a vibrant hub for festival events, including recitals, lectures, public conversations, community gatherings, and immersive artistic experiences designed to deepen engagement with Wagner's epic work while introducing visitors to the company's expanding artistic footprint. Situated on the thriving neighborhood connector, the Atlanta Beltline, the Molly Blank Center reflects The Atlanta Opera's long-term vision of linking world-class artistic creation with the cultural and civic life of the city.
2026–27 season
On the way to this monumental project, The Atlanta Opera's 2026–27 season offers seven productions ranging from war stories and psychological dramas to spiritual journeys, with a through-line of ultimate redemption through love The mainstage season opens with Zvulun's iconic production of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Silent Night, which returns to Atlanta for the first time in ten years, telling a story about the World War I Christmas truce of 1914 that saw enemy combatants declare a momentary cease-fire and come together in recognition of commonality despite the violent conflict that otherwise consumed them (Nov 7–15).
