The Atlanta Opera closes 2025–26 mainstage season with 100th anniversary Turandot starring Angela Meade (April 25 – May 3) and a new production of Twilight of the Gods, completing the company’s first Ring cycle (May 30 – June 7)
(April 2026) — The Atlanta Opera – “a powerhouse in the Atlanta arts scene” (ArtsATL) and “one of the most exciting opera companies in America” (OperaWire) – continues to see evidence of that excitement this spring after experiencing record-breaking sales for the recent production of Figaro. The company’s vitality is equally on display with its remaining 2025-26 productions, first with Angela Meade starring in the title role of Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun’s new production of Puccini’s Turandot – opening on the opera’s 100th anniversary – opposite tenor Jonathan Burton, who makes his mainstage debut. The production proposes a new solution to the problematic ending composed after Puccini’s death, as well as minimizing the cultural stereotyping that has often been a feature of previous stagings (April 25–May 3). Closing the season is Zvulun’s new production of Wagner’s Twilight of the Gods (“Götterdämmerung”), the fourth and final opera in The Atlanta Opera’s Ring cycle, featuring Stefan Vinke, Lise Lindstrom, and David Leigh (May 30–June 7). Both productions will be livestreamed and filmed for release by The Atlanta Opera Film Studio, where a host of opera films have recently been made available, including the previous three operas in the Ring cycle and many more (see below for more details). These spring productions also come at a transformative moment for the entire company, following the recent groundbreaking for the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts, slated to open in winter 2027. Funded in part by a leadership gift of $27.5 million from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the community-forward, multidisciplinary arts center will be a new home for opera and the performing arts right on the Atlanta Beltline. The center will feature recital and theatrical spaces to support a variety of performances and community engagement, focusing on the arts, including recitals, jazz, cabarets, and immersive chamber opera.
Back-view rendering of the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts (courtesy of The Atlanta Opera)
Turandot (April 25–May 3)
Zvulun’s new production of Puccini’s timeless opera Turandot – opening on the 100th anniversary to the day of the opera’s premiere – features “astounding” (The New Yorker) American soprano Angela Meade in the title role. Meade inaugurated the role last season at LA Opera, when ArtsBeat LA found that she “rose to the occasion magnificently … capturing the character’s inner turmoil with grace and power.” Opposite Meade as Calaf is American tenor Jonathan Burton, who makes his mainstage debut stepping in for Piero Pretti, who is ill. Zvulun worked with Burton a decade ago and has long hoped to bring the tenor – praised by Opera News as “an engaging all-around singer with a powerful, full-bodied sound” – to Atlanta for a mainstage role. Soprano Juliana Grigoryan sings Liù, the role that served as the vehicle for her Met debut last season, and bass Peixin Chen, who sang Sarastro in The Atlanta Opera’s Magic Flute last season, sings the role of Timur. On the podium for Turandot will be Principal Conductor Iván López-Reynoso. Left unfinished at Puccini’s death and completed by a lesser composer whose music Toscanini famously refused to even perform, Turandot is also a difficult opera to stage in an era sensitive to cultural stereotypes. This production offers innovative new solutions to both problems – devised by Zvulun’s longtime scenic design collaborator Erhard Rom – that result in a satisfyingly complete story true to the original vision of Friedrich Schiller, on whose play the opera is based, while also relying almost exclusively on Puccini’s own music.
Twilight of the Gods (Götterdämmerung) (May 30–June 7)
Following productions of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Siegfried in The Atlanta Opera’s Ring cycle over the past three seasons, Twilight of the Gods (“Götterdämmerung”) closes the cycle during the 150th anniversary year of the Ring cycle’s premiere. It also represents other milestones: the first time in history the opera has been presented in Atlanta, and the completion of the first new American Ring production since the pandemic. With a superb cast starring “impassioned” (Parterre Box) heldentenor Stefan Vinke, “a seasoned Wagnerian” (The Seattle Times), this new Zvulun production also features the “deeply sympathetic, vocally magnificent Brünnhilde” (Classical Voice North America) of Lise Lindstrom. The villainous Hagen will be portrayed by David Leigh, “a bass of unusual agility, depth and darkness” (Opera News), replacing Morris Robinson, who had to withdraw from the production. On the podium will be Detroit Opera’s music director, Roberto Kalb.
Atlanta Opera Film Studio
Packed with films, documentaries, behind-the-scenes videos, livestream events, full concerts and complete series, The Atlanta Opera Film Studio was founded by Tomer Zvulun and filmmaker Felipe Barral to increase the accessibility of operas in a unique and cinematic style. This season’s remaining productions will be presented online for livestream viewing on the Friday evening performances. The livestreams will then be available for replay here, as are all mainstage productions from previous seasons. Viewing most content requires only an email registration; to view the cinematic operas produced at The Atlanta Opera – which will be available for Turandot and Twilight of the Gods at a later date – a $25 annual subscription is required.
About The Atlanta Opera
Hailed by The New York Times for “Bringing Opera Back from the Brink,” The Atlanta Opera’s mission is to break the boundaries of opera to create exceptional experiences for audiences everywhere. Founded in 1979, the company has grown to achieve “Tier One” status (Opera America) in 2024 and works with world-renowned singers, conductors, directors and designers who seek to enhance the art form. Under the leadership of internationally recognized stage director and Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, The Atlanta Opera expanded from three to four mainstage productions at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and launched the acclaimed “Discoveries” event series, as well as the innovative 96-Hour Opera Project. In recent years, the company has been named among the “Best of” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was nominated in 2016 and 2023 for International Opera Awards. It also received ArtsATL’s 2019 Luminary Award for Community Engagement in recognition of its successful Veterans Program in partnership with the Home Depot Foundation, while the 2023 Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities recognized the excellence of the 96-Hour Opera Project. In addition, The Atlanta Opera was featured in a 2018 Harvard Business School case study about successful organizational growth, and Zvulun presented a TEDx Talk at Emory University titled “The Ambidextrous Opera Company, or Opera in the Age of iPhones.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Atlanta Opera was one of the only companies in the world to create a full, alternative season, consisting of no fewer than 40 live performances in two different outdoor venues, including a revolutionary custom-designed circus tent. The critically acclaimed productions and concerts were streamed in HD on the newly created “Atlanta Opera Film Studio” streaming platform, which continues to allow The Atlanta Opera to reach a global audience. National media coverage of the “pandemic season” included features in the Wall Street Journal and on PBS NewsHour. Reflecting on the company’s achievements over the past decade, Musical America declared, “The Atlanta Opera has arrived.” For more information, visit atlantaopera.org.
The Atlanta Opera: 2025-26 spring productions
All performances take place in the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
April 25, 28, May 1, 3 (m), 2026
PUCCINI: Turandot
Princess Turandot: Angela Meade
Calaf: Jonathan Burton
Liù: Juliana Grigoryan
Timur: Peixin Chen
Iván López-Reynoso, conductor
Tomer Zvulun, director
May 30, June 2, 5, 7 (m), 2026
WAGNER: Twilight of the Gods
Siegfried: Stefan Vinke
Brunnhilde: Lise Lindstrom
Hagen: David Leigh
Roberto Kalb, conductor
Tomer Zvulun, director