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 with Picker, Stollman, director James Robinson, American baritone Lucia Lucas in the title role, and soprano Sylvia D’Eramo as Lili’s wife, Gerda Wegener.

The opera is set to receive its U.S. premiere at Santa Fe Opera (a co-production with Seattle Opera) from August 1–27, 2026. “Lili Elbe” premiered in October 2023 at Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland and has been widely acclaimed, hailed as “an emotionally charged masterpiece” (Voralberger Zeitung) and named “Best World Premiere” at the 2024 Oper! Magazine awards.

The opera tells the true story of painter Lili Elbe, one of the first recipients of gender-affirming surgery, exploring her journey of transition, love, and identity with her supportive wife Gerda, bringing this historic, deeply human story to the operatic stage.

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