The Glimmerglass Festival proudly presents a star-studded lineup for the 2025 season led by internationally acclaimed and GRAMMY-nominated bass-baritone Greer Grimsley and mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee as Artists-in-Residence. The season, which runs from July 11 to August 17, 2025, features a one-night-only performance by Broadway legend Bernadette Peters and offers a variety of unique concerts, events, and dining experiences. The exciting roster of opera and Broadway talents will bring to life productions celebrating “The Art of Making Art” in honor of the Festival’s 50th anniversary. All tickets for the 2025 Glimmerglass Festival are on sale now.
The season’s first special event is Bernadette Peters in Concert on July 31, 2025, at the Alice Busch Opera Theater. The three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway legend who originated the role of Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park with George will perform selections from musical masters, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerry Herman, in this one-night-only concert.
Leading the roster of Guest Artists, Glimmerglass welcomes bass-baritone Greer Grimsley and mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee as Artists-in-Residence for the 2025 season. Celebrated for his commanding presence, Grimsley is one of the most prominent Wagnerian singers of our time. A highly sought-after educator, clinician, and competition judge, Bybee is known for her remarkable range and dynamic versatility. She serves on the voice faculty at Loyola University’s College of Music and Fine Arts. Together, Grimsley and Bybee will mentor members of the 2025 Glimmerglass Young Artists Program, helping them hone their presence and authenticity on stage. Past Artists-in-Residence have included luminaries such as Christine Goerke, Eric Owens, Isabel Leonard, and Anthony Roth Costanzo. In addition to their mentorship roles, Grimsley and Bybee will take the stage in a special concert, Becoming: The Evolution of Storytellers through Words and Music, on August 14.
Joining Grimsley and Bybee as Guest Artists are soprano Michelle Bradley, praised for “the sheer beauty of her voice and her technical command” (New York Classical Review), Yongzhao Yu, who recently wowed audiences at Houston Grand Opera, and John Riddle, whose Broadway credits include Hans in Frozen and Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. Also featured are Marina Pires, acclaimed for her performance as Gloria Estefan in the national tour of On Your Feet!, Mikaela Bennett, who previously starred as Maria in The Sound of Music at the 2022 Glimmerglass Festival, and baritone Aleksey Bogdanov, a favorite on European opera stages and alum of the Festival’s Young Artists Program. Additional Guest Artists include mezzo-soprano and Glimmerglass alum Deborah Nansteel, described as a dramatically assured vocal powerhouse; bass-baritone Marc Webster, an active recitalist, master teacher, and faculty member at the Ithaca College School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; soprano Lydia Grindatto, 2024 winner of the Fernand Llamesch Award at the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition; and tenor and Glimmerglass alum Adrian Kramer, celebrated for his “vocal heft” and “brilliance of sound” (Opera Canada). Other notable performers include Taylor-Alexis DuPont and Sergio Martínez, recent Glimmerglass Young Artists Program graduates.
Special events at the 2025 Festival include the Pipeline Talk: From Page to Stage on July 18, featuring composer/librettist Derek Bermel and author/librettist Sandra Cisneros discussing their creative journey in adapting The House on Mango Street for the operatic stage. Audiences can also enjoy elegant Festival Dinners on select dates, Preview Brunches with exclusive insights into the 2026 season, and various community events, including the Springfield Appreciation Concert on July 6, featuring selections from the season’s repertoire to benefit the Springfield Center Fourth of July Committee, and the return of Midday Music, free lunchtime concerts offered at four locations throughout Otsego County.
“For 50 years, Glimmerglass has been more than just a place to experience world-class performances — it has been a community where artists and audiences come together in a way that is truly unique,” shared Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley. “This season, we welcome an extraordinary roster of Guest Artists, from internationally celebrated opera stars to Broadway legends, who will not only dazzle onstage but also engage with our community in meaningful ways. At Glimmerglass, you can experience their artistry in a breathtaking performance and then share a conversation over dinner. That spirit of collaboration and connection is what makes this Festival so special. As we celebrate this milestone season, we invite you to join us in honoring our past, reveling in the present, and dreaming about the next 50 years of artistic innovation and shared experiences.”
The 2025 Glimmerglass Festival season opens with the heart-stopping sonic spectacle Tosca (Puccini/Illica & Giacosa). It 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, with a libretto by renowned and celebrated author Sandra Cisneros and a score by GRAMMY-nominee Derek Bermel. For this 50th anniversary season, internationally renowned scenic designer John Conklin, Glimmerglass Associate Artistic Director Emeritus, returns to the Festival as designer for all four Mainstage productions, creating unique settings for each of the productions that celebrate the architecture of the Alice Busch Opera Theater. 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.
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, which 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.
Secure your tickets by visiting glimmerglass.org or calling (607) 547-2255.
2025 Glimmerglass Festival Casts & Artistic Teams
Tosca
Music by Giacomo Puccini/Libretto by Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa
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.
Conductor: Joseph Colaneri
Director: Louisa Proske
Set Designer: John Conklin
Costume Designer: Kaye Voyce
Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel
Hair & Makeup Designer: Tom Watson
Floria Tosca: Michelle Bradley
Mario Cavarodossi: Yongzhao Yu
Baron Scarpia: Greer Grimsley
Cesare Angelotti: Donghoon Kang*
A Sacristan: Sergio Martínez
Spoletta: Kellan Dunlap*
Sciarrone: Luke Harnish*
*member of the 2025 Young Artists Program
10 performances: July 11, 13m, 20m, 21m; August 1, 4m, 7, 9m, 14, 16m
Sunday in the Park with George – company premiere
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim/Book by James Lapine
Breaking new ground for what musical theater could express, Sunday in the Park with George is a dazzling exploration of life, love, and the relentless drive to create. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece follows Georges Seurat in 1884 as he paints his magnum opus, then jumps forward in time to an imagined great-grandson of Seurat who is navigating his own creative struggles. With its radiant, transcendent score, this 10-time Tony-nominated musical builds to one of the most breathtaking finales in Broadway history. Bold and heartfelt, Sunday invites us to see the world — and each other — with fresh eyes.
Conductor: Michael Ellis Ingram
Director: Ethan Heard
Set Designer: John Conklin
Costume Designer: Beth Goldenberg
Lighting Designer: Amith Chandrashaker
Projections Designer: Greg Emetaz
Hair & Makeup Designer: Tom Watson
George: John Riddle
Dot/Marie: Marina Pires
Old Lady/Blair Daniels: Luretta Bybee
Nurse/Mrs./Harriet Pawling: Taylor-Alexis DuPont
Jules/Bob Greenberg: Marc Webster
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. This production of Sunday in The Park With George was licensed by Music Theatre International.
9 performances: July 12, 17, 19, 21m; August 2, 5m, 8, 10, 17m
The House on Mango Street – world premiere
Music by Derek Bermel/Libretto by Sandra Cisneros and Derek Bermel
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 worldwide. 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.
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
Esperanza: Mikaela Bennett
Lucy: Samantha Sosa*
Rachel: Kaylan Hernandez*
Sally: Taylor-Alexis DuPont
Alicia: Sarah Rosales*
Sire: Tshilidzi Ndou*
Papa Cordero: Sergio Martínez
Mama Cordero: Deborah Nansteel
*member of the 2025 Young Artists Program
Six performances: July 18, 28m; Aug 2m, 10m, 12m, 16
The Rake’s Progress – company premiere
Music by Igor Stravinsky/Libretto by W.H. Auden & Chester Kallman
A debonair stranger, Nick Shadow, appears to Tom Rakewell with an irresistible proposition: the chance to rewrite his destiny. As the devilish Nick conjures a series of tempting adventures for Tom, Anne Trulove fights for Tom’s salvation. Stravinsky and Auden’s brilliant reimagining of the traditions of Handel, Mozart, and Rossini sparkles with elegant vocal lines, vibrant orchestrations, and lively dance rhythms. Standing as Stravinsky’s largest and most ambitious creation, The Rake’s Progress is a groundbreaking blend of wit, drama, and style.
Conductor: Joseph Colaneri
Director: Eric Sean Fogel
Set Designer: John Conklin
Costume Designer: Lynly Saunders
Lighting Designer: Robert Wierzel
Projections Designer: Greg Emetaz
Hair & Make-up: Tom Watson
Tom Rakewell: Adrian Kramer
Anne Trulove: Lydia Grindatto
Nick Shadow/Keeper: Aleksey Bogdanov
Baba the Turk: Deborah Nansteel
Trulove: Marc Webster
Six performances: July 19m, 29m; August 3m, 9, 11m, 15
Odyssey – Glimmerglass commission
Music by Ben Moore/Libretto by Kelley Rourke
The Festival is proud to bring former Artistic & General Director Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed original production of Odyssey to the Alice Busch Opera Theater for the first time. Ben Moore and Kelley Rourke’s take on Homer’s epic tale is led by two members of the Young Artist Program who serve as “Bards” and features the Glimmerglass Youth Ensemble.
The first of six youth operas (and counting) commissioned by the Festival, Odyssey has traveled to stages across the country in the years following its premiere to standing-room crowds in 2015. 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 greatest epics of all time.
Original Director: Francesca Zambello
Director: Eric Sean Fogel
Set Designer: Ryan McGettigan
Costume Designer: Erik Teague
Bard 1: Justin Burgess*
Bard 2: Kaileigh Riess*
Three performances: August 3, 5, and 8m