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The Santa Fe Opera has been the summer oasis for internationally acclaimed |
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General Information
A garden gate in Santa Garden Gate in Santa Fe
Santa Fe has charmed visitors since the early sixteenth century as well as being a vibrant home to Pueblo Indians for more than a thousand years. Ever since 1957, The Santa Fe Opera has been the summer oasis for internationally acclaimed operatic talents and opera enthusiasts!
Northern New Mexico provides visitors a cornucopia of natural and worldly pleasures that include 19 nearby Indian Pueblos; 44 National and State Parks, including 10,000-year-old archaeological ruins, 13,000-foot mountain peaks, 650-foot canyons, lakes and deserts; world-class art galleries and restaurants; and some of the world's finest hotels, spas and bed & breakfasts. Visitors are encouraged to make reservations early. See accommodations listings here.
Santa Fe's performing arts encompass dance, theater, opera, choral and chamber music. Find information about performing arts events at Santa Fe Arts & Culture Portal. The Santa Fe Opera invites you to let your dreams run wild when you visit for the first time or return to make new discoveries in the "Land of Enchantment."
Let us help with links to other Web sites about Santa Fe, New Mexico and opera in general.
THE SANTA FE OPERA, Leader in Innovation and Excellence
Every July and August since 1957, opera lovers have been drawn to the magnificent northern New Mexico mountains to enjoy productions by one of America's premier summer opera festivals. Here, The Santa Fe Opera's dramatic adobe theater blends harmoniously with the high desert landscape. It is this fusion of nature and art that leaves such an enduring impression on all who come. More than half the audience of 85,000 comes from outside New Mexico representing every state in the union as well as Canada and Europe.
The Santa Fe Opera has taken its place among the world's leading opera festivals. Its mission is to present productions meeting the highest artistic standards in a repertory of new, rarely performed, and standard works. Nearly more than 1,600 performances of more than 130 operas have been given here, including nine world premieres and more than 40 American premieres, among them Lulu, The Cunning Little Vixen, Capriccio, and Daphne. Recent premieres include the world premiere of Madame Mao, commissioned from Bright Sheng, in 2003, the premiere of the revised version of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, in 2005, the American premiere of Thomas Ades’s The Tempest, in 2006, and the American premiere of Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul in 2007.
Casts are drawn from the world's most talented young singers, and production teams of conductors, directors, and designers are international as well. It is a source of considerable pride that many singers whose names are now found on the rosters of the world's leading opera houses began their careers in Santa Fe. They include Susan Graham, Patricia Racette, Joyce DiDonato, William Burden, Kristine Jepson, Michelle DeYoung, and Charles Castronovo.
The company was founded by the late John Crosby, a young conductor from New York, who had an idea of starting an opera company to give American singers an opportunity to learn and perform new roles in a setting that allowed ample time to rehearse and prepare each production. At the same time, a program for young singers who were making a transition from academic to professional life, the Apprentice Program for Singers, was begun. Fifteen hundred aspiring singers have participated in the program. Many are performers, others are teachers, coaches and pedagogues. In 1965, an apprentice program for theater technicians was added, and it too has become an important training tool.
John Crosby was succeeded as General Director by Richard Gaddes in the fall of 2000. Gaddes is the former General Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Artistic Administrator of The Santa Fe Opera, and President of Grand Center, St. Louis. Since his tenure began, he has implemented a wide range of new programming, including community-based productions in the off-season and the company’s first simulcast.
The Santa Fe Opera has a wide array of education and community outreach programs to make opera accessible and appealing to a broad spectrum of the New Mexico population. One, the unique Pueblo Opera Program, serves Native American youth from nineteen pueblos and three reservations in the state. The theater itself features 'Opera Titles’ –- a small screen in front of every seat, which allows patrons to follow the stage action in either English or Spanish. The Santa Fe Opera has become one of New Mexico's cultural and economic leaders. Its reputation attracts thousands of tourists to the area each year, and provides employment and income both directly and indirectly.
History
1957
John Crosby establishes the Santa Fe Opera with a company of 67. The 480-seat open-air theater opens on July 3 with Madame Butterfly. The Apprentice Program for Singers is established. Igor Stravinsky visits to oversee production of The Rake's Progress. Operating budget for the first season comes to $110,000.
1959
First education initiative, Youth Night at the Opera, opens dress rehearsals to families. Jack Benny gives a benefit concert with the SFO orchestra.
1960
Actor Jose Ferrer makes his operatic debut in Gianni Schicchi.
1961
Vera Zorina appears as Persephone with Stravinsky conducting. Paul Hindemith conducts his opera, News of the Day. The first opera company to receive American State Department sponsorship for a foreign tour, the SFO performs at the West Berlin Festival and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1962
A two week Stravinsky Festival, honoring the composer’s 80th birthday, features performances of all his operatic works.
1963
Alban Berg's Lulu has its American premiere.
1964
Richard Strauss' Daphne has its American stage premiere.
1965
Apprentice Program for Technicians begins. A partial roof over the theater is added.
1967
Jose Van Dam makes his American debut in Carmen. Hindemith's Cardillac and Hans Werner Henze's Boulevard Solitude have their American premieres. On July 27 a fire demolishes the theater; the remainder of season is performed in downtown Santa Fe. Construction of the new building begins.
1968
Less than a year after the fire, the new 1,889-seat theater opens on June 26. Included in the season is a new production of Madame Butterfly.
1969
Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudon has its American premiere.
1971
Kiri Te Kanawa makes her American debut, and Frederica von Stade her company debut in The Marriage of Figaro. Heitor Villa-Lobos' Yerma premieres.
1974
Pier Francesco Cavalli's L'Egisto has its American premiere, realized and conducted by Raymond Leppard in his American operatic debut.
1975
Samuel Ramey debuts in Carmen.
1976
Robert Indiana designs Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All to open the Twentieth Anniversary Season.
1977
Nino Rota's The Italian Straw Hat has its American premiere.
1979
Berg's complete Lulu premieres, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas in his company debut.
1981
Former Apprentice Singer James Morris debuts in The Rake's Progress. Håkan Hagegård debuts in The Barber of Seville.
1982
Richard Strauss' Der Liebe der Danae receives its first professional American production
1983
Thomas Hampson debuts in Don Pasquale. Cavalli's L'Orione has its American premiere. Richard Strauss' Der Liebe der Danae receives its first professional American production.
1984
Elisabeth Söderström debuts in Richard Strauss' Intermezzo.
1985
Charles Ludlam debuts directing the American premiere of Henze's The English Cat.
1986
The Thirtieth Anniversary Season is celebrated with a gala concert presenting scenes from opera and Broadway. The King Goes Forth to France by Aulis Sallinen receives its American premiere.
1987
Tatiana Troyanos debuts in Handel's Ariodante. Penderecki's The Black Mask has its American premiere.
1988
Richard Strauss' Friedenstag has its American professional premiere.
1990
Marilyn Horne debuts in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.
1991
John Crosby receives National Medal of the Arts from President George Bush. Bryn Terfel makes his American debut in The Marriage of Figaro.
1992
John Crosby receives Officer's Cross of the Federal Order of Merit from Germany.
1993
Dawn Upshaw debuts in Handel’s Xerxes.
1994
Three distinguished composers are commissioned to write major works. The Blond Eckbert by Judith Weir is given its American premiere.
1995
The first of the three commissions, David Lang's Modern Painters, premieres.
1996
Fortieth Anniversary Season: the second commission premieres: Tobias Picker's Emmeline. The production is broadcast on PBS Great Performances in Spring 1997.
1997
The third commission premieres, Peter Lieberson's Ashoka's Dream. Patricia Racette's performs her first Violetta (La traviata) in the United States.
1998
A new 2,128 seat theater opens with Madame Butterfly. Jonathan Miller debuts directing The Magic Flute. A Dream Play by Ingvar Lidholm has its American premiere. Richard Gaddes is named to succeed John Crosby as General Director in 2001.
1999
The Opera Titles System is introduced, providing English translations on individual screens in front of each seat. Jerry Hadley debuts in the title role of Mozart's Idomeneo .
2000
John Crosby's final season as General Director. Venus and Adonis is Hans Werner Henze's sixth opera to be premiered in Santa Fe. Lauren Flanigan debuts as Venus. Showcase Productions, a new community initiative are launched with The Beggar’s Opera given at Santa Fe’s El Museo Cultural.
2001
Richard Gaddes' first season as General Director. Stieren Orchestra Hall opens. Mozart's Mitridate receives its first SFO performances. Berg's Wozzeck with Håkan Hagegård garners critical acclaim. Showcase Productions presents H.M.S. Pinafore in Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center.
2002
L’Amour de loin by Kaija Saariaho receives its American premiere. Peter Sellars debuts as director and Dawn Upshaw returns in the role of Clemence. The Pirates of Penzance is the third Showcase Production, given at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. John Crosby dies at 76 on December 15.
2003
World premiere of Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao is given. The Crosby Theatre is dedicated at the memorial service on July 12, on what would have been John Crosby's 77th birthday. Alan Gilbert is named the company's first music director. French coloratura Natalie Dessay makes her American concert debut.
2004
Highlights of the season include Natalie Dessay’s Santa Fe Opera debut in La sonnambula and the company’s first-ever simulcast to an enthusiastic audience in Fort Marcy Park. Simon Boccanegra and Agrippina entered the opera’s repertory.
2005 A revised version of Ainadamar by Osvaldo Golijov is given to six sold-out houses. Peter Sellars is the director, Dawn Upshaw portrayed Margarita Xirgu, Federico Garcia Lorca’s champion and muse. Turandot, Peter Grimes and Lucio Silla enter the repertory.
2006 The 50th Anniversary Season is celebrated with five new productions, including the American premiere of Thomas Adés’s The Tempest. Anne Sofie von Otter sings her first American Carmens and Natalie Dessay sings Pamina for the first time anywhere. Massenet’s Cinderella joins the repertory.
2007 A new production of Puccini’s La bohème is simulcast to Ft. Marcy Park in Santa Fe and Tiguex Park in Albuquerque. Richard Strauss’s Daphne, which had its American premiere in Santa Fe in 1964 returns to the repertory in a new production. The American premiere of Tan Dun’s Tea: A Mirror of Soul is given six performances. A new production of Rameau’s Platée and a revival of Così fan tutte join the repertory. |
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