Austin Opera to Open Butler Performance Center With World Premiere
By Afton Markay(Photo credit: Kamys)
Austin Opera is set to open its new home Butler Performance Center, with the world premiere performance of Jorge Sosa and John de los Santos’ “Ofrenda.”
The Center features the Sangeeta Teresa Mai and Hai Nguyen Theater which holds 189-seats with retractable and tiered seating. Also within the Butler Performance Center are four rehearsal rooms, a conference center, indoor and outdoor event spaces and approximately 300 parking spaces. The facility is designed for both Austin Opera and Austin’s broader creative community. The Center is named in honor of Sarah and Ernest Butler, longtime Austin philanthropists and among the company’s most significant supporters. The Butlers previously established the Butler Fund for Spanish Programming, an endowment that supports Spanish-language programming at Austin Opera and helped establish the company’s Curator of Hispanic and Latinx Programming.
The first round of celebration is a ribbon cutting on Sept. 26, by Austin Opera leadership and Sarah and Ernest Butler. The event will offer the public its first opportunity to explore the new venue, hear performances by Austin Opera’s Resident Stars in the new theater, participate in a Community Altar honoring Día de los Muertos and the world premiere of “Ofrenda,” and more.
The Center’s inaugural performance and world premiere of “Ofernda” not only marks the Company’s new space, but it’s first ever commission. The 90-minute bilingual chamber opera is sung in Spanish and English and stars mezzo-sopranos Kelly Guerra and Victoria Vargas. Performances runs Oct. 1 – 11.
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