Company’s 87th Season Will Be an Eclectic Array of Works and Venues
It’s never too early to plan operas on the horizon, and Pittsburgh Opera today announced its offerings for the 2025-26 line-up, the company’s 87th season. Five works will be presented beginning October 18, 2025 and ending May 3, 2026. We reached out to Christopher Hahn, General Director of Pittsburgh Opera, for comment on what local opera patrons can expect to hear and see in the season to come. “Pittsburgh Opera’s 2025-26 season is going to be wonderful,” Mr. Hahn said with his usual enthusiasm. “We’ve consciously programmed a range of operatic styles and genres. We’ll have some well-known ‘classics’, some new, contemporary works, and some rare gems. La Bohème has been one of the world’s most popular operas for over 100 years for a reason. Our stellar cast will make Puccini’s Parisian tale sparkle and shine. Fellow Travelers has quickly solidified itself as a compelling, must-see show. Curlew River is unlike any opera we’ve ever done, not least because we’re performing it in a church. Time to Act, our world premiere, is another example of our commitment to telling powerful, new stories and continuing to advance our art form. And what could be more fun than ending a season with Verdi’s final opera, the hilarious Falstaff, which we haven’t performed since 2009. All these works are all of the highest caliber,” he said in conclusion,” and they each showcase the majesty of the human voice and the power of opera’s unique storytelling through song.”
La Bohème will kick off the season on Saturday, October 18, at 7:00 pm at the Benedum, with a first-night performance of Puccini’s everlasting classic. It will receive the usual repetitions on October 21, October 23, at 10:30 am (the student matinee); October 24, and Sunday’s matinee, October 26, 2026. It’s important to note that the start times have been moved to 7:00 pm as opposed to the later start times of previous seasons. The Sunday matinee begins at 2 pm. As of today, the partial cast engaged for the run of the show includes Daniel O’Hearn as Rodolfo, Vuvu Mpofu as Mimì, Zachary Nelson as Marcello, Matthew Soibelman as Colline, and, of course, Kevin Glavin as Benoit and Alcindoro. Additional casting is pending, and Antony Walker will conduct. The Student Matinee will introduce 2,500+ school students grades 3–12 to this lively, colorful opera on Thursday, October 23, 2025. Tickets are reserved through Pittsburgh Opera’s Education Department. For more information, please contact Marilyn Egan, Ph.D., Director of Education at megan@pittsburghopera.org
A scene from La Bohème (David Bachman)
Next up will be Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce’s Fellow Travelers, a Pittsburgh first. Based on Thomas Mallon’s novel, the 2016 opera is set in the McCarthy era, where naive college graduate Timothy Laughlin comes to Washington eager to join the crusade against communism. But a chance encounter with a handsome State Department official, Hawkins Fuller, leads to Tim’s first job—and his first relationship with a man. Under the threat of increased government scrutiny, this complicated and clandestine affair will put both men’s loyalties and convictions to the ultimate test. As the poisonous political climate pollutes their relationship, love becomes a casualty of what it takes to “play the game” in Washington. The opera will be performed on three consecutive days at the Byham Theater – Friday and Saturday evenings, November 14 and 15, 2025, at 7 pm, and Sunday, November 16 at 2 pm. Resident Artists Erik Nordstrom, Logan Wagner, Shannon Crowley, Matthew Soibelman, Lauryn Davis and Audrey Welsh are among those who will sing, and Antony Walker will conduct.
A scene from VA Opera’s Fellow Travelers (Dave Pearson)
Coming next in January will be a new production by Pittsburgh Opera of Benjamin Britten and William Plomer’s Curlew River, an opera never heard here before. A woman driven mad by the mystery of her lost son learns of her boy’s unfortunate fate from a chance encounter with a Ferryman while crossing a river. Based on the Japanese Noh play Sumidigawa River, Curlew River retells this story as a Christian parable. Written in the style of monastic plain song and laden with musical symbolism, this piece artfully melds theatrical simplicity with ecumenical grandeur. In keeping with these themes and this opera’s history, Curlew River will be staged at Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside. The performances will run Saturday, January 24, 27, and 30, 2026, all at 7 pm, and Sunday, February 1 at 4 pm. Erik Nordstrom, Logan Wagner, Yazid Gray and Mathew Soibelman will make up the cast, and Antony Walker will conduct.
A world premiere will follow when Laura Kaminsky and Crystal Manich’s Time to Act receives its first ever performance on Saturday evening, February 28, 2026, at the Bitz Opera Factory in the Strip District. A group of high school students prepares for a production of Sophocles’ Antigone, joined by a new student, Alona, who comes with a formidable secret. Time to Act demonstrates how the arts can uplift and unify victims of trauma, empowering them to act, while giving voice to the young citizens who have been most impacted by an ongoing cycle of devasting school violence. These performances are sponsored in part by New Music USA’s Organization Fund and OPERA America’s Opera Fund. The commissioning of Laura Kaminsky for Time to Act received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers program supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Time to Act is a Co-Commission by Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Montana and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, with additional funding by Opera Santa Barbara. The opera will be repeated March 3 and 6 at 7 pm, and March 8 at 2 pm. Michael Sakir will conduct, and Audrey Welsh, Erik Nordstrom, Shannon Crowley, Logan Wagner and Yazid Gray will sing.
The final opera of the season will be Giuseppe Verdi and Arrigo Boïto’s Falstaff. Beloved buffoon Sir John Falstaff has fallen on hard times. But being a ladies’ man (or so he’d like to think), he drunkenly schemes to cash in on his wit and charm by wooing the wealthy wives of Windsor, Alice Ford and Meg Page. However, when these women uncover that he has sent them both identical love letters, they hatch a plan of their own to teach Falstaff a lesson he won’t soon forget. The music matches the merriment and mischief of this madcap romp. See why Verdi’s buoyant comedy, based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, is considered one of the best comedic operas of all time. The cast will include Michael Chioldi, Blake Denson, Danielle Pastin, Natasha Te Rupe Wilson, Marianne Cornetti and others; Antony Walker will conduct. Performances at the Benedum will run April 28 and May 1, at 7 pm, and May 3, at 3 pm. In addition, Pittsburgh Opera’s will have a special bonus Student Matinee performance on Thursday, April 30, 2026. Tickets are reserved through Pittsburgh Opera’s Education Department. For more information, please contact Marilyn Egan, Ph.D., Director of Education at megan@pittsburghopera.org
A scene from San Jose Opera’s Falstaff (David Allen)
And as usual, there will be such events as the Bravo Academy in July; the 70th Annual Diamond Horse Shoe Celebration in October; the Maecenas XLI in May 2026, Free and Low Cost Events, Free Song Shop Concerts and more.
Visit Pittsburgh Opera for more information about the season, events and tickets.
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