CINCINNATI (October 8, 2026)—Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) invite the public to an exclusive preview of Claude & Marcel, a new opera commissioned by West Edge Opera, on Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio (1241 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202). This special sneak peek will be presented through Cincinnati Opera and CCM’s dynamic creative partnership, Opera Fusion: New Works, which offers composers and librettists the opportunity to refine their works-in-progress through Cincinnati-based workshops.
Claude & Marcel
Creative Team
With music by Alyssa Weinberg and libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann, Claude & Marcel tells the story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, who formed one of the most daring creative partnerships of the avant-garde in the early 20th century. Romantic partners, collaborators, and radical thinkers, the two women created surrealist photographs that challenged gender, identity, and power decades before those conversations entered the mainstream. Living on the island of Jersey during World War II, the pair transformed their artistic imagination into acts of resistance against Nazi Germany. Disguised and working in secret, they produced subversive propaganda—poems, pamphlets, and messages designed to demoralize German soldiers—slipping them into pockets, vehicles, and public spaces. Arrested and sentenced to death for their actions, they ultimately survived the war, leaving behind a legacy of courage, defiance, and boundary-breaking art. Their story is one of love, creativity, and resistance—two artists who proved that imagination itself can be a powerful act of rebellion.
The OF:NW workshop of Claude & Marcel will be led by director Elkhanah Pulitzer and conductor Jonathan Khuner. The opera will receive its world premiere at West Edge Opera in August 2027.
Event Information
Opera Fusion: New Works presents Claude & Marcel
Thursday, November 19, 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio, 1241 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Tickets: Pay What You Wish tickets starting at $15 for adults; free for full-time students (one ticket per valid student ID)
Order at cincinnatiopera.org or 513-241-2742
Media contact:
Katie Syroney
Director of Communications
ksyroney@cincinnatiopera.org