Photos: See Mikayla Sager as Violetta in New Portraits of Opera San José's LA TRAVIATA
La Traviata will be performed in Italian with English and Spanish supertitles.
Opera San José will close its 2025-26 season devoted to exploring the question of “What is love?” with the quintessential operatic story of all-encompassing passion and profound loss: Verdi's La Traviata. Get a first look at portraits featuring Mikayla Sager as Violetta here.
Offering one of opera’s most enduring love stories, Verdi’s La Traviata follows the glamorous courtesan Violetta as she falls deeply in love with Alfredo—for whom she sacrifices all. This newly envisioned production by director Tara Branham heightens the opera’s social critique, emphasizing the transactional nature of the world Violetta inhabits, where elegant women are bartered as commodities. Set in the fashionable salons of Paris’ demimonde, this production delves into the heart of glittering 1888 French society and an unacceptable affair that costs the heroineeverything. Filled with iconic melodies, breathtaking duets, and high-stakes drama, La Traviata has enthralled audiences with its emotional depth and stunning music since its premiere 173 years ago.
Former Artist-in-Residence Johannes Löhner makes his OSJ principal conducting debut, while OSJ’s Inaugural Artist-in-Residence Director Tara Branham helms this production, that will include the sweeping grandeur of the era, with added elements such as Kathak-inspired South Asian choreography in Flora’s lavish Act II party. La Traviata will be performed in Italian with English and Spanish supertitles, April 19 – May 3, 2026 (performance dates/times below) at the California Theatre, 345 South First Street, San José. For more information or to purchase tickets ($58–$215, plus $3.50 fee per ticket), the public may visit operasj.org or call 408-437-4450.
La Traviata will star soprano Mikaya Sager, who previously starred as Nedda in OSJ’s Pagliacci, as the glamorous, witty, and fiercely independent courtesan Violetta. She will be joined by former OSJ Artist-in-Residence tenor WooYoung Yoon as Alfredo, her young lover, following his 2024 performances as Rodolfo in La Bohème and Tamino in The Magic Flute with OSJ. Baritone Kidon Choi, who starred as Alfio and Tonio in OSJ’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, will take on the role of Alfredo’s dignified and traditional father, Germont.
Photo credit: Chris Hardy
Mikayla Sager
Mikayla Sager
Mikayla Sager
Mikayla Sager
Mikayla Sager
Mikayla Sager
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