On August 1, 2026, Santa Fe Opera’s 2026 Season culminates with the American premiere of “Lili Elbe,” a two-act opera based on the true story of Lili Elbe, one of the first individuals to undergo gender affirmation surgery in the early 20th century with the support of her wife, artist Gerda Wegener. The opera is composed by Grammy Award-winning composer {…}
Composer Tobias Picker and librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman will appear in a Works & Process presentation at the Guggenheim Museum on Monday, Oct. 27, at 7:00 p.m., to explore their new opera “Lili Elbe.” Presented in collaboration with Santa Fe Opera, the event will take place in the Peter B. Lewis Theater and features a moderated discussion and musical excerpts {…}
Photo Credit: Edyta Dufaj/Opera Vision The latest opera by one of contemporary opera’s well-beloved figures, Tobias Picker, in only two acts Picker weaves a dynamic story about the real-life figure, Lili Elbe, one of the first but possibly most famous transgender women in history. Having started life as a painter with the given name Einar Wegener, in 1930 following a {…}
Composer Tobias Picker and librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman’s latest opera “Lili Elbe” is set to stream on Dec. 8, 2023 on OperaVision. The work, which premiered on Oct. 22, 2023 at the Konzert und Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland was commissioned for the reopening of the newly renovated art-brut style Theater St. Gallen. It marks the first grand opera written {…}
Lili Elbe’s story is an important one, especially for the Transgender community. Born in 1882, Elbe became a noted painter (known as Einar Wegener) and married Gerda Gottlieb in 1904. By the 1920s, Elbe was presenting herself as a woman and took on the name of Lili and stopped painting. In 1930, she went to Germany for gender-affirmation surgery, changed {…}
(Foto: © Ludwig Olah) American composer Tobias Picker and librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman’s newest opera “Lili Elbe” is set to make its world premiere at the Theater St. Gallen. “Lili Elbe” is the first grand opera written for and about a historical person of trans experience, and the world premiere stars American heldenbaritone Lucia Lucas. Lucas will be joined a {…}