The Glimmerglass Festival, among the top opera festivals in the world, has programmed an exhilarating 50th anniversary season that centers artists and creators, celebrates opera and musical theater legends, and introduces a thrilling world premiere opera based on a beloved book.

The Festival will present a world premiere, two company premieres, and a revival of the company’s first commission for young people. The season, which runs from July 11–August 17, 2025, opens with the heart-stopping sonic spectacle Tosca (Puccini/Illica & Giacosa) and continues with the gloriously rich and powerful Sunday in The Park With George (Sondheim/Sondheim & Lapine), and the lively and riveting The Rake’s Progress (Stravinsky/Auden & Kallman).

The season will also feature the world premiere of The House on Mango Street, based on the classic book, and a libretto by renowned and celebrated author Sandra Cisneros with a score by Grammy Award-nominee Derek Bermel. The Festival is also proud to bring former Artistic Director Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed original production of Odyssey (Moore/Rourke) to the Alice Busch Opera Theater for the first time. The first of six youth operas (and counting) commissioned by Glimmerglass, Odyssey has traveled to stages across the country in the years following its 2015 premiere.

“The Glimmerglass Festival has been a destination for people who love making art and people who love watching it on our stage, and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate our 50th anniversary with a season that will offer an experience that goes beyond every expectation,” said General and Artistic Director Rob Ainsley. “Glimmerglass is a destination that offers more than a night at the opera. It offers an experience in which every person that steps on our grounds can see themselves and their stories reflected.”

“As we celebrate our rich legacy and look toward an exciting future, I wanted to put artists front and center. Artists are leading characters in many of the stories you will see on our stage in 2025. I find it fascinating to consider these works now because they came at pivotal points in the careers of their creators. Tosca was written on the heels of La bohème, as Puccini’s 20-year-old opera career was finally starting to gain some momentum. When Sondheim started work on Sunday, he had established himself as one of Broadway’s greats with Sweeney Todd, Company, and Follies but had also just experienced critical and commercial failure for Merrily We Roll Along. The Rake’s Progress was one of the last works Stravinsky wrote in his neoclassical period, and his only opera.”

“For our world premiere,” Ainsley continued, “I turned to composer Derek Bermel and writer Sandra Cisneros, two enormously successful artists who are approaching opera for the first time. Success and failure, stylistic pivots and new horizons—these are part of the life of an artist, and the life of an arts institution. But even without the back stories, these are four terrific shows, and I can’t wait to see them on our stage.”

What’s more, for the 50th anniversary season, internationally renowned scenic designer John Conklin, Glimmerglass Associate Artistic Director Emeritus, who was a steady presence at Glimmerglass for more than 30 years, has conceived a playing space that transforms to create a unique setting for each of the operas, while celebrating the architecture of the Alice Busch Opera Theater.

Conklin said, “I have always regarded the intimate theater Hugh Hardy designed for Glimmerglass to be a home to a family of dedicated professionals who come together to learn from each other, from the operas we produce, and from the space itself. It is a space that I know well, and a space that still has much to teach us.”

“John designed over 30 productions for our festival and, as Associate Artistic Director, helped define the way we produce opera,” said Ainsley. “His imagination and his curiosity are limitless, and his influence at Glimmerglass is immeasurable. I can think of no better person to celebrate our first half-century.”

ABOUT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

The 2025 Glimmerglass Festival will run from July 11 – August 27, 2025.

Every mainstage production will be accompanied by the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra and is staged in the Alice Busch Opera Theater. Nestled on the northern banks of Lake Otsego in Upstate New York, the 918-seat theater is an integral part of the Glimmerglass experience. Its casual elegance, beautiful surroundings, and excellent acoustics provide an intimate, one-of-a-kind operatic encounter.

Ticket packages for the 2025 Festival are available on October 7, 2024, with single tickets on sale on January 27, 2025. Current ticket package holders can call the Box Office at (607) 547-2255 to renew thier package today!

TOSCA

Music by Giacomo Puccini/Libretto by Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa
10 performances: July 11, 13m, 20m, 22m; August 1, 4m, 7, 9m, 14, 16m

Conductor: Joseph Colaneri
Director: Louisa Proske
Set Designer: John Conklin
Costume Designer: Kaye Voyce
Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel
Hair & Makeup Designer: Tom Watson

Tosca, a tempestuous diva, lives for art—and for love. When Cavaradossi, her lover and a revolutionary painter, is targeted by Rome’s corrupt chief of police, Tosca is determined to save him—but at what price? Puccini’s lush score, written on the heels of La bohème, contrasts moments of exquisite tenderness with heart-stopping sonic spectacle.

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE – company premiere

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally Directed on Broadway by James Lapine
Orchestrations by Michael Starobin
Originally Produced on Broadway by The Shubert Organization and Emanuel Azenberg
By arrangement with Playwrights Horizons, Inc. New York City which produced the original production of Sunday in The Park With George in 1983.

9 performances: July 12, 17, 19, 21m; August 2, 5m, 8, 10, 17m

Director: Ethan Heard
Set Designer: John Conklin
Costume Designer: Beth Goldenberg
Lighting Designer: Amith Chandrashaker
Projections Designer: Greg Emetaz
Sound Designer: Joel Morain
Hair & Makeup Designer: Tom Watson

Inspired by Georges Seurat’s groundbreaking painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, this musical is a meditation on the artistic process, seen through the eyes of Georges Seurat in 1884 and an imagined great-grandson, also an artist, in 1984. Nominated for 10 Tony Awards and Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Sondheim’s innovative score explores pointillism in sound before opening out into one of the most glorious choral finales in the repertory.

This production of Sunday in The Park With George was licensed by Music Theatre International.

THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET – world premiere

Music by Derek Bermel/Libretto by Sandra Cisneros
Six performances: July 18, 28m; Aug 2m, 10m, 12m, 16

Conductor: Nicole Paiement
Director: Chía Patiño
Set Designer:John Conklin
Costume Designer: Erik Teague
Lighting Designer: Amith Chandrashaker
Dramaturg: Kelley Rourke
Projections Designer: Greg Emetaz
Hair & Make-Up: Tom Watson

The House on Mango Street, a coming-of-age classic, has been acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world. Novelist Sandra Cisneros, winner of the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature, has teamed up with Grammy-nominated composer Derek Bermel for an opera inspired by her classic book, which unfolds in a series of episodes seen through the eyes of a young girl. Through a series of interactions, which range from fascinating to funny to frightening, she comes to understand that storytelling is the medicine she can offer her community — and herself.

THE RAKE’S PROGRESS – company premiere

Music by Igor Stravinsky/Libretto by W.H. Auden & Chester Kallman
Six performances: July 19m, 29m; August 3m, 9, 11m, 15

Conductor: Joseph Colaneri
Director: Eric Sean Fogel
Set Designer: John Conklin
Costume Designer: Lynly Saunders
Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel
Hair & Make-up: Tom Watson

A debonair stranger, Nick Shadow, appears to Tom Rakewell and tempts him with the chance to reimagine his future. As Nick conjures a series of enticing adventures for Tom, Anne Trulove fights for Tom’s salvation. Written in Stravinsky’s neoclassical period, Stravinsky’s only full-length opera score sparkles with elegant vocal writing and lively dance rhythms.

ODYSSEY – Glimmerglass commission

Music by Ben Moore/Libretto by Kelley Rourke

Packed with rollicking choruses, tender ballads, and an irresistible siren song, this one-hour opera for all ages offers an engaging, fast-paced introduction to one of the great epics of all time, led by two members of the Young Artist Program who serve as “Bards” and featuring the Glimmerglass Youth Ensemble.

The Festival is also proud to offer a variety of free events throughout the season. Preview Talks, held before every mainstage performance, offer audiences the chance to dive into the history of each production with conductors, directors, and music staff. Backstage Tours explore the Alice Busch Opera Theater, scene shop, and costume shop and are offered before every Saturday matinee. And Changeover Talks, held between Saturday matinee and evening performances, explain the complicated process of transitioning sets from one production to another as the audience watches the magic happen on stage.

In addition to regular Festival programming, the 2025 season will offer a host of 50th anniversary-related events, talks, concerts, and meals. The full slate of 2025 special events, along with full season casting will be announced at a later date.

2025 Season Calendar