The Christmas Night Opera Gala will return to Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage on Dec. 22, 2026, following last year’s inaugural concert.

The evening, which will be presented by Wintour Performing Arts Incorporated, will showcase international stars Joyce DiDonato, Isabel Leonard, Rosa Feola, Michael Fabiano, and Iurii Samoilov. As he did last year, Italian conductor Francesco Lanzillotta will once again take the podium. He will continue as conductor and music director for the next two Christmas Night Opera Gala concerts.

The five artists will present a program of celebrated arias and scenes from some of opera’s most popular works.

The Christmas Night Opera Gala also continues the artistic journey of its producer, Eugene Wintour-Irverstag. At the age of 22, he became the youngest general producer of a state theatre in Russia, assuming a leadership role at Moscow’s renowned Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with leading artists and organizations across opera, classical music, theatre, and dance. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Wintour-Irverstag publicly opposed the war, was arrested, and subsequently left the country permanently, rebuilding his life and professional career in Europe. Today, he brings world-class artists and companies to major venues across Northern Europe and the United States. The inaugural Christmas Night Opera Gala at Carnegie Hall in December 2025 marked his U.S. producing debut.

In a statement Eugene Wintour-Irverstag, producer and founder of Wintour Performing Arts Incorporated said, “When we presented the first Christmas Night Opera Gala last year, my hope was not simply to create one beautiful evening, but to begin something that could return to New York year after year. To return to Carnegie Hall with another extraordinary group of artists feels very meaningful. I have spent my life bringing artists and audiences together, and after having to rebuild so much of my own life and work, I do not take for granted the opportunity to continue doing that here.”