A Summer in Review

After two years away, it was a joy to welcome audiences back home to Music Hall for a season of grand and moving opera. From beloved classics La Bohème, The Pirates of Penzance, and Aida, to exciting world premieres Fierce and Castor and Patience, to community events from Opera for All, Opera in the Park, Pride Night and our Sensory-Friendly rehearsal of The Pirates of Penzance, it was an exciting, romantic, thrilling, magical, and GRAND season for all.

Thank you to our audiences, donors, volunteers, and community for supporting our efforts to enrich the cultural life of our region, and keep opera a vital part of Cincinnati’s vibrant arts scene. Enjoy this look back—and see you next season!

opera in the park AND opera for all

A sunny day in June made for a wonderful day of sharing and celebrating opera and our return home to Music Hall. We threw open the doors and invited all to tour the stage, view costume displays, make crafts, participate in dance, make-up and stage combat demonstrations, and even play dress up! That evening, fan-favorite Opera in the Park returned to Washington Park with favorite hits from opera and musical theater performed by star singers from Cincinnati Opera’s 2022 Summer Festival, the Cincinnati Opera Chorus, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Photos by Philip Groshong

La Bohème

Audiences were swept away by the greatest love story ever sung. The season opened at Music Hall with Puccini’s La Bohème.

Cast of La Bohème. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Raven McMillon as Musetta. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of La Bohème. Photo: Philip Groshong.

Talise Trevigne as Mimi; Ji-Min Park as Rodolfo. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of La Bohème. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Talise Trevigne as Mimi; Ji-Min Park as Rodolfo. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Raven McMillon as Musetta. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of La Bohème. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Conductor Mark Gibson
Stage Director Alain Gauthier
Scenic and Costume Designer Olivier Landreville
Lighting Designer Thomas C. Hase
Wig & Makeup Designer James Geier
Chorus Master Henri Venanzi

Featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Opera Chorus

Photos by Philip Groshong

bAL DE TRIOMPHE / THE TOAST

We celebrated more than 100 years of opera in Cincinnati with a brilliant evening, when we bid farewell to the success of our season-opening production of La Bohème while toasting to the future of the company.

Photos by Paige Pederzani

Fierce

A fierce new opera premiered at SCPA. Composer William Menefield and librettist Sheila Williams created a heartwarming opera about four teenage girls who embark on a transformative journey toward empowerment and self-assurance despite their unique challenges.

Cast of Fierce. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Alicia Russell Tagert as Morgan. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Fierce. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Megan Graves as Rumer; Victoria Ellington as Nyomi. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Fierce. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Victoria Ellington as Nyomi. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Alicia Russell Tagert as Morgan. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Megan Graves as Rumer. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Fierce. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Composer William Menefield
Librettist Sheila Williams
Conductor Joseph Young
Stage Director D. Lynn Meyers
Production Designer Samantha Reno
Lighting Designer Thomas C. Hase
Projection Designer Jessica Drayton
Wig & Makeup Designer James Geier

Featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
New production from Cincinnati Opera

Photos by Philip Groshong

The Pirates of Penzance

Plenty of Pirates touched down at Music Hall for Gilbert & Sullivan’s hilarious operetta, The Pirates of Penzance. Audiences tossed their worries overboard and joined playful pirates, naive young lovers, and the very model of a modern Major-General on a perfectly preposterous adventure! This also included a sensory friendly rehearsal which created a welcoming and comfortable arts experience.

Cast of The Pirates of Penzance. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Zachary James as The Pirate King. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of The Pirates of Penzance. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Patrick Carfizzi as Major-General Stanley. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of The Pirates of Penzance. Photo by Philip Groshong.

David Walton as Frederic. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Conductor David Agler
Stage Director & Choreographer Seán Curran
Scenic & Costume Designer James Schuette
Lighting Designer Thomas C. Hase
Wig & Makeup Designer James Geier
Chorus Master Henri Venanzi

Featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Opera Chorus

Photos by Philip Groshong

PRIDE NIGHT

Our 14th Pride Night was an evening of advocacy for visibility and equality, honoring Greater Cincinnati’s LGBTQIA+ community and supporters. This glamorous party included dancing, drag queens, themed cocktails, and delectable desserts!

Photos by Paige Pederzani

Castor and Patience

The highly anticipated world premiere of Castor and Patience with music by Gregory Spears, composer of Cincinnati Opera’s acclaimed 2016 commission, Fellow Travelers, and original lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith received national attention and critical acclaim by news outlets such as The New York Times, National Public Radio, Cincinnati Business Courier, and The Wall Street Journal.

Reginald Smith Jr. as Castor; Talise Trevigne as Patience. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Castor and Patience. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Reginald Smith Jr. as Castor; Talise Trevigne as Patience. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Castor and Patience. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Reginald Smith Jr. as Castor; Jennifer Johnson Cano as Celeste. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Castor and Patience. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Composer Gregory Spears
Librettist Tracy K. Smith
Conductor Kazem Abdullah
Stage Director Kevin Newbury
Scenic Designer Vita Tzykun
Costume Designer Jessica Jahn
Image Designer Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Projection Designer S. Katy Tucker
Lighting Designer Thomas C. Hase
Wig & Makeup Designer James Geier

Featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
New production from Cincinnati Opera

Photos by Philip Groshong

Morris and Friends

The energy in Music Hall was positively electric with this special, one-night-only concert of gospel and opera hosted and curated by world renowned bass and Cincinnati Opera Artistic Advisor, Morris Robinson!

Pictured: Morris Robinson, Jaqueline Echols, Tichina Vaughn, Lawrence Brownlee, Russell Thomas, Reginald Smith Jr, Will Liverman, Damien Sneed, Courtis Fuller, The Cincinnati United Choir and HBCU Collective (under the direction of David Minor and A. Michael Cunningham), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (Conducted by Kazem Abdullah), and The Morris and Friends Band.

Photos by Mark Lyons

Aida

The curtain came down on the 2022 Summer Festival season with the grandest of all grand operas, Aida. Star-crossed lovers, a thunderous score, beautiful dancing, more than 100 performers on stage—not to mention fire and horses (!)—made Aida triumphal.

Cast of Aida. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Mary Elizabeth Williams as Aida; Gregory Kunde as Radamès. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Aida. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Gregory Kunde as Radamès; Morris Robinson as Ramfis. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Aida. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Morris Robinson as Ramfis. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Tichina Vaughn as Amneris; Mary Elizabeth Williams as Aida. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Cast of Aida. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Preixin Chen as The King of Egypt; Morris Robinson as Ramfis. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Gregory Kunde as Radamès. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Mary Elizabeth Williams as Aida. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Gordan Hawkins as Amonasro; Mary Elizabeth Williams as Aida. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Mary Elizabeth Williams as Aida; Gregory Kunde as Radamès. Photo by Philip Groshong.

Conductor Christopher Allen
Stage Director Crystal Manich
Scenic Designers Claude Girard & Bernard Uzan
Costume Designer Claude Girard
Lighting Designer Thomas C. Hase
Wig & Makeup Designer James Geier
Chorus Master Henri Venanzi

Featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet, and the Cincinnati Opera Chorus

Photos by Philip Groshong

Media Stories

***Cincinnati Business Courier:*** Cincinnati Opera ready to celebrate its postponed 100th season

By Janelle Gelfand

***Movers & Makers:*** A ‘Fierce’ new opera inspired by teenage girls

By David Lyman

***City Beat:*** Cincinnati Opera’s 'Fierce' and 'Castor and Patience' Give Voice to Underrepresented Stories

By Anne Arenstein

***I care if you listen:*** 5 Questions to Tracy K. Smith (librettist, Castor and Patience)

By Amanda Cook

***Cincinnati business courier:*** Cincinnati Opera returns to Music Hall with a heartwarming “Bohème”

Review by By Janelle Gelfand

***All about the arts:*** Cincinnati opera returns to music hall to open its 2022 season with la bohÈme

Review by Rafael de Acha

***I care if you listen:*** Cincinnati Opera Stages Vibrant and Heartfelt New Opera, “Fierce”

Review by A. Kori Hill

***Cincinnati Business Courier:*** Cincinnati Opera’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’ is the very model of delight

Review by Janelle Gelfand

***The New york times:*** A New Opera Tells an Original Story With an Open Heart

Review by Zachary Woolfe

***National public radio:*** 'Castor and Patience' opera explores systematic barriers to Black land ownership

By Elizabeth Kramer

the wall street journal: ‘Castor and Patience’ Review: Land and Legacy at the Opera

Review by Heidi Waleson

***the harvard gazette:*** Dreams of land deferred

By: Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite

***Cincinnati Business Courier***: Morris Robinson tackles double duty at Cincinnati Opera

By Janelle Gelfand

***WKRC-TV:*** Morris Robinson appears on Good Morning Cincinnati

Morris sat down with hosts Jen Dalton and Bob Herzog to talk *Aida* and Morris and Friends

***WLWT-TV:*** Courtis Fuller interviews Morris on “Let’s Talk Cincy”

Morris talks with Courtis about his career and Cincinnati Opera performances this season.

***Cincinnati Business Courier:*** Aida a visual spectacle

Review by Janelle Gelfand

spotted at the opera

Cincinnati Opera fans certainly show up and stand out with fashion that reflects a variety of unique personalities! We absolutely LOVED seeing it this season!