Berkshire Opera Festival will inaugurate its new Resident Artist Program with a fully staged production of André Grétry’s “Zémire et Azor.”

The rarely performed 18th-century retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale will take the stage on July 31 and August 2 at PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance in Chatham, New York.

The production will be conducted by BOF Co-founder and Artistic Director Brian Garman and directed by Mo Zhou, who reimagines the opera in Gilded Age America, with Zémire as the daughter of the nouveau riche and Azor as an old-money recluse disfigured by an industrial accident. The title role will be sung by soprano Ethel Trujillo with tenor Scott Rubén La Marca as Azor. The cast also includes baritone Will (June Young) Kim as Sander and mezzo-soprano Christina Grohowski as Fatmé.

The eight-week paid residency, which drew more than 600 applicants for five spots, is designed to give emerging artists leading roles rather than chorus assignments or covers. Resident artists will also understudy and perform in BOF’s mainstage production of “Lucia di Lammermoor” this August, alongside duo recitals, salon performances, and public master classes.

“BOF is thrilled to launch our Resident Artist Program with this production. Zémire et Azor is a witty and deeply touching piece, and I know our audiences will be charmed by this new production conceived by the brilliant director Mo Zhou,” said Brian Garman, BOF Artistic Director and co-founder, per an official press release.

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