Here’s a look at West Edge Opera’s 2027 Summer Festival season, taking place in Oakland, CA. The season opens with the world premiere of Alyssa Weinberg and Stephanie Fleischmann’s “Claude and Marcel.” Nikola Printz and Sara LeMesh take on the title roles, with Angela Yam as Charlotte. Jonathan Khuner and Kyle Naig are music directors and Elkhanah Pulitzer is the {…}
West Edge Opera has announced the commission of “The School for Girls Who Lost Everything in the Fire.” The new opera by composer Ryan Suleiman and librettist Cristina Fríes will receive its world premiere at West Edge Opera’s Summer Festival 2029. The work is set in a makeshift school run by nuns in the charred ruins of a California town {…}
West Edge Opera announced its 2026 summer festival. “Our 2026 festival celebrates the daring, diversity, and emotional depth that define West Edge Opera,” said Mark Streshinsky, General Director, per an official press release, “these works reflect our belief in the power of opera to speak through ages.” There will be a special preview of the company’s newest commission “Claude & {…}
West Edge Opera has announced the four new operas selected for the 2026 edition of Snapshot. The program will be presented at First Congregational Church in Berkeley on Feb. 28, 2026, and at the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco on March 1, 2026. This year’s Snapshot features “Cry, Wolf,” “Threshold of Brightness,” “The Joining,” and “Case Closed.” Composer JL {…}
Opera Southwest will present “Dolores” this October. The opera, which explores the story of civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, will take the stage of the National Hispanic Cultural Center-Journal Theatre on Oct. 26, 31, and Nov. 2, 2025. The work is set in 1968 during the Delano grape strike’s third year as farmworkers in California built a unified movement to {…}
West Edge Opera has announced its 2025 summer festival. First on the slate is Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Koch’s “Dolores,” which was developed through the company’s Aperture Program. It explores the journey of activist Dolores Huerta and her work with the United Farm Workers during the Delano Grape Strike, among other major events. The opera stars Kelly Guerra, Phillip {…}
West Edge Opera has announced that vocal artists Efraín Solís and Kenneth Kellogg will be taking on leadership roles in the company. Solís is joining as a voting member of the board of directors while Kellogg will take on the position of Director of Marketing and Engagement. The company’s goal of including the baritone and bass in leadership is to {…}
West Edge Opera has announced that composer Alyssa Weinberg is teaming up with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann to create “Claude & Marcel,” a new opera about surrealist photographers and activists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. The opera is written for eight singers and 13 instruments and will premiere in August 2027 following three years of workshops and preview performances. West Edge {…}
West Edge Opera is set to present “Jacqueline” as part of its festival this August. The opera, which explores the story of famed cellist Jacqueline Du Pré, will feature cellist Matt Haimovitz and soprano Marnie Breckenridge. Both artists headlined the opera’s premiere at Tapestry Opera in Toronto in 2020 with Breckenridge winning the DORA award for “Outstanding Performances by an {…}
California’s West Edge Opera and Earplay Chamber Ensemble have announced the lineup for the SNAPSHOT 2024. First up is an excerpt from “Madame Thermin,” an opera by Kennedy Verrett and George Kopp based on the true story of a Black ballet dancer Lavinia Williams and her relationship with electronic music pioneer Leon Theremin. Also on the slate is Tony Asaro {…}
West Edge Opera has announced that it will commission “L’Autre Moi.” The work for eight singers and 13 instruments tells the story of surrealist photographers Marcel Moore and Claude Cahun, female lovers, and Jewish activists who used their art as a means of empowering resistance in Nazi Germany. The work is written by Matthew Recio and Stephanie Fleischmann and is {…}