Transformational gift celebrates legacies of Joyce McC. and John R. Hupper
Inaugural Artists: Taylor-Alexis DuPont and Sergio Martinez
Cooperstown, NY: The Glimmerglass Festival is proud to announce the launch of the Hupper Family Festival Artists program, a new initiative designed to provide rising operatic and musical theater talent with a critical stepping stone between training and full-fledged professional careers. The program is made possible through a family gift in memory of longtime Glimmerglass trustee and devoted arts advocate Joyce McC. Hupper and her husband John R. (Jack) Hupper. The program will support two early-career singers each summer, beginning with mezzo-soprano Taylor-Alexis DuPont and bass Sergio Martinez as the inaugural Festival Artists for the 2025 season.
The Hupper Family Festival Artists program builds on Glimmerglass’s renowned Resident Artists Program by offering additional performance opportunities, exposure, and career support to artists at a pivotal point in their professional journey. In today’s rapidly changing arts landscape, many of the vital intermediate opportunities that once nurtured early-career artists have dwindled. The Hupper Family Festival Artists program is Glimmerglass’s bold response: a sustained, artist-centered initiative to keep talent thriving on our stages.
Each season, two singers will be selected from among recent Resident Artist alumni to return to Glimmerglass in featured roles. In addition to performing in two named roles each season, they will receive a solo performance opportunity, participate in industry-facing events, including auditions for agents and presenting companies, and be highlighted in Glimmerglass media, marketing, and print publications. The 2025 inaugural Festival Artists are mezzo-soprano Taylor-Alexis DuPont ’22 and ’23 and bass Sergio Martinez ’20, ’22, and ’23, both former Resident Artists whose talent and artistry made a lasting impression during their residencies.
“I’ve always dreamed of returning to Glimmerglass as a Guest Artist, and it means the world to me to come back in this way,” said DuPont. “The Festival has given me so many incredible opportunities — not just to perform, but to grow. It has given me one of the greatest gifts an artist can receive: a supportive environment that encourages me to take risks and challenge myself artistically. It has allowed me to explore and discover many tools that I use as an opera singer, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity the Festival has given me to both perform and thrive. Glimmerglass has truly left a mark on me as an artist. I’m honored and proud to be an inaugural Festival Artist.”
Martinez recalled a defining moment from his time as a Resident Artist: “In 2022, I was asked to jump in as Zuñiga in Carmen just hours before curtain. It was one of the biggest moments of my career — terrifying and thrilling all at once. The entire company stood behind me. I only remember the tears streaming down my face and the joy I felt from the entire Resident Artist group. They knew what I had just accomplished. They saw me. That’s what Glimmerglass is about. It’s about family — laughing, struggling, loving, crying, and showing up for one another. It’s about being seen by your peers, who understand the depth of dedication required to pursue this path. Coming back now as a Festival Artist reflects the trust this company places in its artists, and its commitment to helping us reach our full potential.”
“Glimmerglass has long been a home for emerging artists finding their voice and discovering the full scope of their artistic potential, and Taylor-Alexis and Sergio are extraordinary artists and true ambassadors of the Glimmerglass spirit,” said Rob Ainsley, Artistic & General Director of The Glimmerglass Festival. “Thanks to the generosity of the Hupper family, we’re able to offer young professionals the artistic space, public spotlight, and career momentum they so richly deserve, while giving our audiences a chance to witness these exciting artists take their next steps. This program reflects the Festival’s commitment to being not just a place where talent is discovered, but where it’s sustained.”
Each season’s Festival Artists will be selected by a panel of Glimmerglass artistic leaders, based on recommendations from the company’s casting and training teams. Artists will be chosen not only for their vocal and dramatic gifts, but also for their professionalism, versatility, and collaborative spirit — hallmarks of the Glimmerglass ethos.
Joyce and Jack Hupper’s legacies at Glimmerglass are both broad and deep. In particular, as a trustee Joyce Hupper was known for her sharp intellect, calm pragmatism, and love of opera — always bringing thoughtful perspective to Board deliberations and season planning. She championed the Festival to her wide circle of friends, introduced many to Glimmerglass during the summer season and at the annual Gala, and gave generously at every level, often asking how she could “do more.” In recognition of her extraordinary service, the Board named her an Honorary Life Trustee in 2022, its highest distinction.
“Our mother believed that Board members should be more than stewards — they should be ambassadors,” said Gail Hupper, Joyce and Jack’s daughter, speaking on behalf of the Hupper family. “She took that role seriously, always looking for ways to share Glimmerglass’s work with new audiences and to champion the artists who made it so special. She was particularly proud of Glimmerglass’ role in supporting emerging young artists through what is now called the Resident Artists Program. By helping some of the most promising alumni/ae of that program take the next step in their careers, the Hupper Family Festival Artists program honors Mom’s legacy and strengthens Glimmerglass’s position as an important incubator of opera’s next generation of voices.”
About the 2025 Season
The 50th Anniversary season celebrates the performers, dreamers, and creators whose alchemy takes our breath away with a season showcasing “The Art of Making Art.” Mainstage productions include Puccini, Illica & Giacosa’s Tosca, Sondheim & Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George, and Stravinsky, Auden & Kallman’s The Rake’s Progress. The season will also feature the world premiere of The House on Mango Street, based on the classic novel, with a libretto by renowned and celebrated author Sandra Cisneros and a score by GRAMMY-nominee Derek Bermel. The Festival will also feature the youth opera, Odyssey, by Ben Moore and Kelley Rourke, in the Alice Busch Opera Theater for the first time, as well as a one-night-only performance by Broadway legend Bernadette Peters.