A project to reconstruct the Teatro San Cassiano — the world’s first public opera house, inaugurated in Venice in 1637 and demolished in 1812 under Napoleon’s orders — will make its American debut this March.

The events, which will take place at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York on March 16 and Washington DC on March 18, will feature presentations on the scholarship and vision behind the reconstruction effort, alongside performances of early opera arias drawn from the repertoire that established Venice as the capital of a global opera boom in the 17th century.

In New York, music will be performed in collaboration with The Juilliard School, featuring soprano Elisse Albian and theorbist Alex Vourtsanis.  The Washington DC event will feature soprano Eden Bartholomew alongside Vourtsanis, performed in collaboration with the Yale Voxtet and The Juilliard School. Both showcases kick off at 6 p.m.

The New York event takes place at the Italian Cultural Institute, 686 Park Avenue. The Washington DC event is at the Italian Cultural Institute, 3000 Whitehaven St NW.