WASHINGTON, DC OPERA NEWS COVERAGE

Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative will present three world premiere one-act operas at the WNO Rehearsal Studio in Washington, D.C., with tickets starting at a $25 minimum donation....

Widely regarded as one of the most influential leaders in the American opera field, Scorca brings decades of experience advancing opera companies, artists, and audiences across the United States....

Watch a first look video of THE CRUCIBLE at Washington National Opera, running March 21–29, 2026, with full cast and creative team details....

Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello was inducted into the OPERA America Opera Hall of Fame at the OPERA America Salutes Awards Dinner on Friday, March 20, 2026, at The Plaza Hotel....

For the first time in the United States, six opera costumes created for the renowned performer Maria Callas and belonging to Teatro alla Scala in Milan will be displayed at the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery....

Washington National Opera General Director Timothy O'Leary discusses the company's transition, community support, rebuilding operations, and future plans, including upcoming productions of TREEMONISHA, THE CRUCIBLE, and WEST SIDE STORY....

Washington National Opera’s planned separation from the Kennedy Center is moving into a complex legal stage, with negotiations underway over assets, facilities, and the future of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra....

Washington National Opera announces spring 2026 performances at venues across the D.C. area, including Treemonisha, The Crucible, and additional concerts during its 70th anniversary season....

The Washington National Opera has approved a resolution to move its performances out of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ending a relationship that has spanned more than five decades....

Washington Concert Opera will open its 2025–26 season with Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride on Sunday, November 23, 2025, at 6 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. ...

The ever popular and hardy perennial of the operatic canon, composer Georges Bizet’s Carmen, was given a unique yet solid interpretation by the Wolf Trap Opera under the direction of John de los Santos. (Originally directed by Anne Bogart, according to the program). This opera is so well-known (an...

Opera Lafayette has announced its 31st season, Drama Queen, a daring and celebratory lineup that places women’s voices and stories at the center of the stage. ...

The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart’s beloved opera of amorous lovers, mistaken identities, and affairs of the heart, is replete with warmth, lyricism, and a touch of sweetness. Though there is formal elegance galore in Mozart, Director E. Loren Meeker has opted for a warm and affectionate approach to ...

Kennedy Center subscription sales fall 36% compared to 2023, with theater revenue dropping 82%. The decline follows President Donald Trump’s appointment as board chair and Richard Grenell as president....

The pivotal and star-crossed main characters and the Catfish Row community come alive in the highly influential, thought-provoking, and engrossing opera Porgy and Bess. This much discussed opera has its partisans and detractors but there is a distinct need to ponder and consider a work of this quali...

An evening of the myriad modes of music that constitute the American Experience was celebrated at the Kennedy Center’s production of American Rhapsody. The evening was a rich treasure trove of the glory that is American music from opera, spirituals, modern composers, classic songwriters, and Broad...

It’s not so strange, really, that there’s  a serious opera about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. His life’s work is usually invoked before every production of the last decade or more, when audiences are asked to silence their smartphones....

Washington Concert Opera's 2024/2 Season finale takes place on Sunday, April 13, 2025 with Verdi's Luisa Miller. Making her role debut is the renowned soprano, Angel Blue in the role of “Luisa”.  ...

Opera Fellow Travelers has been pulled from the Kennedy Center's 2025-26 season by its creators, who objected to President Trump's leadership following his appointment as chairman. Washington National Opera’s upcoming season includes productions such as Verdi’s Aida and Scott Joplin’s Treemoni...

Opera America has announced that Deborah F. Rutter, former president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will be the keynote speaker at Opera Conference 2025. Rutter served as the first woman president of the Kennedy Center from 2014 to 2025. She left the position after President Donald T...

The premiere of 3:16, an opera by six acclaimed composers, took place at Burke United Methodist Church on Friday, March 7. Check here for the photos of the production....

The first Washington Concert Opera performance of 2025 will honor the remarkable W.A. Mozart by presenting his La clemenza di Tito. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets....

The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, designed to discover and assist with the career development of tomorrow's opera stars, will host the final round for the Middle Atlantic Region at the Terrace Theater, Kennedy Center....

Malevolence, greed, the thirst for power and the never-ending quest for revenge dominate the Washington National Opera production of composer Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth. The vocals by the company of classical singers assembled here are the glory of this production....

'Gods & Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner' is a beautiful, if limited, array of performances and works highlighting both the composer and Kennedy Center’s own wonderful talent....

The Washington National Opera’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio is a triumph of elegant, efficient style and directorial finesse. Director Francesca Zambello re-invigorates the somewhat uninspired libretto by Joesph Von Sonnleithner with a vigor and intelligence that envelops this tale of valo...

With the size of theatrical orchestras being drastically cut, one of the few places left to hear a full string section is at a symphonic concert. What better symphony is there than YOUR National Symphony Orchestra (NSO)?...

Today’s subject Anita Yavich is currently living her theatre life both locally and on Broadway. Her costume designs can currently be seen in Roundabout Theatre Company’s current production of Yellow Face and starting October 25th her work will be onstage at Kennedy Center in the Opera House with...

After a brief strike period, the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) leadership have announced they have reached a new 18-month labor agreement with the musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra, AFM Local 616-710....

Michael Hersch's new opera 'and we, each' explores the complexities of relationships and societal collapse, premiering in Baltimore on September 28 and 29, and in DC on October 13....

Directed by John Caird and, for this revival, Katherine M. Carter, the production featured a talented cast of emerging opera stars, Studio Artists (many of whom were in featured roles), additional chorus members and the Children’s Chorus of Washington. This large cast filled the stage with excitem...

What did our critic think of THE MATCHBOX MAGIC FLUTE at Shakespeare Theatre/Klein Theatre?...

Incredibly rich in detail --from staging to technical aspects-- and emboldened with Puccini’s soaring music and meticulous, intelligent direction by Francesca Zambello, Washington National Opera’s production of Turandot is a production for the ages. ...

Today’s subject Katherine Goforth is someone who can definitely be called a breakthrough artist to be sure. She is the inaugural recipient of Washington National Opera’s True Voice Award for transgender and non-binary singers. She will be making her Kennedy Center debut on May first at 6:00pm wi...

Shakespeare Theatre Company's final show this season is Mary Zimmerman's The Matchbox Magic Flute. Watch as adapter and director Mary Zimmerman describes what makes The Matchbox Magic Flute a unique operatic experience. ...

Experience the new production of TURANDOT by Washington National Opera with a world premiere ending....

The Washington National Opera will present a 2024–2025 season that pays tribute to the grand tradition of opera, while shaping its future with two new productions. See full programming and learn how to purchase tickets....

There’s an awful lot of death in opera, Timothy O’Leary, the general director of Washington National Opera, lamented on a recent opening night. And those plentiful tragedies are also often further burdened with overbearing scores, turgid storylines, super-large casts and strident if not shrill p...

Check out the new video of Ramin Karimloo's operatic debut in Washington National Opera's Songbird opposite Isabel Leonard, one of America’s leading mezzo-sopranos....

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Ramin Karimloo's operatic debut in Washington National Opera's Songbird opposite Isabel Leonard, one of America’s leading mezzo-sopranos. Songbird is a new adaptation of Jacques Offenbach’s operetta La Périchole. ...