The Atlanta Opera opens 2025–26 season with Tomer Zvulun’s new Fiddler on the Roof in collaboration with Alliance Theatre; followed by Francesca Zamebello’s La traviata and a film version of Philip Glass’s La Belle et la Bête
Artwork: Erik Teague / provided by The Atlanta Opera
(August 2025) — The Atlanta Opera – “a powerhouse in the Atlanta arts scene” (ArtsATL) and “one of the most exciting opera companies in America” (OperaWire) – presents six productions in 2025-26 themed to twilight and transformation, at a transformative moment for the entire company, following the announcement of a leadership gift from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation to build the Molly Blank Center for Opera. The first production of the season – part of the critically acclaimed Molly Blank Discoveries Series – marks a watershed moment for The Atlanta Opera: the company joins forces with the Alliance Theatre for a 44-performance run of Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulunand opening the season for both companies (Sep 4–Oct 5). Philip Glass’s opera for film and ensemble, La Belle et la Bête (Nov 15) rounds out this season’s Molly Blank Discoveries Series. Between these is the first of four productions – featuring a stellar lineup of world-class voices both new and familiar – in The Atlanta Opera’s mainstage series at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre: Verdi’s La traviata featuring Mané Galoyan and Long Long and directed by Francesca Zambello (Nov 8–16).
In the spring, The Atlanta Opera’s mainstage series continues with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro with Sydney Mancasola and Luke Sutliff (March 14–22); Angela Meade in the title role of a new Zvulun production of Puccini’s Turandot opposite Piero Pretti (April 25–May 3); and Zvulun’s new production of Wagner’s Twilight of the Gods (“Götterdämmerung”), marking the fourth and final opera in The Atlanta Opera’s Ringcycle and featuring Stefan Vinke, Lise Lindstrom, and Morris Robinson (May 30–June 7). All mainstage series productions will be livestreamed and filmed for release by The Atlanta Opera Film Studio (see below for more details).
Zvulun comments:
“Our mission – to break the boundaries of opera – takes on new meaning in the two productions that bookend our season. We launch with a groundbreaking staging of Fiddler on the Roof, presented in partnership with the Alliance Theatre over 44 performances. The season concludes with the crowning achievement of our historic Ring cycle: Twilight of the Gods (Götterdämmerung). Atlanta’s dedication to artistic excellence shines through the exceptional singers and creative teams we welcome for these landmark events. The season reaches its zenith with our principal conductor Iván López Reynoso’s first production at the helm: Turandot, marking this celebrated opera’s centennial with a stunning new interpretation.”
Fall mainstage and Molly Blank Discoveries Series
The Atlanta Opera’s Molly Blank Discoveries Series – renamed in honor of the Blank family’s inspirational matriarch – continues its long-standing collaboration with the Alliance Theatre, the leading producing theater in the Southeast, to co-produce and present 44 performances of Fiddler on the Roof. The fall production of this classic American musical – which opens the season for both companies – will feature a new staging by Tomer Zvulun. Leading the cast in the role of Tevye is Itzik Cohen, known internationally for his portrayal of Captain Gabi Ayub in the Israeli television series Fauda on Netflix. Opposite Cohen as his wife Golde is Tony and Grammy Award winner Debbie Gravitte. Or Matias, known for his work as music director on Broadway’s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, joins the team as Music Director (Sep 4–Oct 5).
Rounding out the fall schedule is a second Discoveries series production, a special presentation of Philip Glass’s opera for film and ensemble, La Belle et la Bête (“Beauty and the Beast”), composed to accompany the classic film by poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau (Nov 15). La Belle et la Bête is the second of a trilogy of works Glass composed in the 1990s as an homage to Cocteau, and it uses a French libretto by the composer himself based on Cocteau’s film script. The evening will be capped off by a masquerade for the entire audience in the lobby with music and refreshments available. Tickets include both the film and the party, and audience members are encouraged to costume and wear creative theater masks for the occasion.
The Atlanta Opera’s 2025-26 mainstage season begins with Verdi’s La traviata (Nov 8–16), in a staging by internationally lauded American director Francesca Zambello. Armenian soprano Mané Galoyan, winner of the 2021 Operalia Second Prize, Zarzuela Prize, and Rolex Audience Prize, and described by Vienna’s Online Merker as “nothing short of magical,” sings the role of Violetta, with tenor Long Long bringing “a glorious voice, even across all registers with an ideal combination of ardour and flexibility” (Bachtrack) to the role of Alfredo, and “warm-toned, vivacious, and humane” (San Francisco Chronicle) baritone Anthony Clark Evans as his father, Giorgio Germont. Evan Rogister, Principal Conductor of Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, is on the podium.
Spring productions
Opening the spring season is a production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (March 14–22). In the role of Susanna is Sydney Mancasola, whose performance as Bess in Breaking the Waves at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival earned raves, with Seen and Heard International calling her “a marvel, extracting every scintilla of possibility from her soprano voice, from euphoria to misery via delirium.” The production also stars Luke Sutliff – who sang Papageno in last season’s The Magic Flute – as Count Almaviva, “radiantly clear” (Sydney Morning Herald) Romanian soprano Iulia Maria Dan as Countess Almaviva, and “immediately beguiling” (Opera Today) Tunisian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb as Cherubino. British director Stephen Lawless helms the production.
Zvulun’s new production of Puccini’s timeless opera Turandot – premiering on the 100th anniversary of the opera’s premiere – features “astounding” (The New Yorker) American soprano Angela Meade in the title role, which she inaugurated just 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” (April 25–May 3). Opposite Meade as Calaf is Sardinian tenor Piero Pretti, a regular at La Scala since his debut in 2012 who has also sung Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Alfredo in La traviata at the Metropolitan Opera. Armenian 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 young Mexican conductor Iván López Reynoso, leading his first production as The Atlanta Opera’s principal conductor. Since his operatic conducting debut in 2010 at the age of 20, López Reynoso has helmed more than 50 productions.
Finally, 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 with a vision of the downfall of the old gods and burning of Valhalla and an implicit promise of the renewal of the world (May 30–June 7). With a superb cast starring “impassioned” (Parterre Box) heldentenor Stefan Vinke, “a seasoned Wagnerian” (The Seattle Times), this all-new Tomer Zvulun production also features Lise Lindstrom, a “deeply sympathetic, vocally magnificent Brünnhilde” (Classical Voice America), and Atlanta Opera favorite Morris Robinson – returning to the company after his turn as Banquo in last season’s Macbeth – in the role of the villainous Hagen. Conducting the production will be the Mexican-born music director of Detroit Opera, Roberto Kalb.
96-Hour Opera Festival winners
Recently having completed its fourth season, The Atlanta Opera’s 96-Hour Opera Project and Festival celebrates the artistry of creative talents and offers a path into the art of opera. Launched as the 96-Hour Opera Project, the Festival expanded from the original composition competition to include developmental workshops and incubator performances of works by past competition winners. The competition continues to be the heart of the Festival and invites composers and librettists to write ten-minute operas that are judged by industry leaders, who have included renowned American theatre director Tazewell Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Mark Campbell, award-winning actress and director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, New York Times bestselling author Andrea Davis Pinkney, and other experienced leaders in the industry.
Composer Dina Pruzhansky and librettist Hai-Ting Chinn were named winners of the 2025 96-Hour Opera Festival, held last month, for their 10-minute scene, Rose, Tree (Rosenbaum and Li). The poignant work, set in 1967, explores cultural healing through the story of two mothers – one a Jewish Holocaust survivor, the other an American-born Chinese woman – who unite in support of their children’s interracial relationship. The duo will split the $10,000 Antinori Foundation Grand Prize and have been commissioned to develop the piece into a full-length chamber opera. Their winning scene premiered before a live audience at Morehouse College’s Ray Charles Performing Arts Center.
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.
Atlanta Opera: 2025-26 season
All performances take place in the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre unless otherwise specified
Sep 4, 5, 6, 7m, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14m, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20m, 20, 21m, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27m, 27, 28m, 28, 30; Oct 2, 3, 4m, 4, 5m, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11m, 11, 12m, 12*
The Alliance Theare
Fiddler on the Roof
Book: Joseph Stein
Music: Jerry Bock
Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick
Tevye: Itzik Cohen
Golde: Debbie Gravitte
Tzeitel: Amanda Fallon Smith
Grandma Tzeitel: Deborah Bowman
Hodel: Mia Pinero
Chava: Maya Jacobson
Yente: Joanna Daniels
Motel: Coby Getzug
Perchik: Oliver Prose
Lazar Wolf: Jeremy Radin
Rabbi: Rabbi Ron Segal
Fiddler: Kylie Dickinson
Or Matias, conductor
Tomer Zvulun, director
Chloe Treat, choreographer
Alexander Lisiyansky, scenic designer
Vita Tzykun, costume designer
Nicholas Hussong, projection designer
Ricardo Aponte, associate director, choreographer
*plus invite-only and student matinee performances
Nov 8, 11, 14, 16m
VERDI: La traviata
Violetta: Mané Galoyan
Alfredo Germont: Long Long
Giorgio Germont: Anthony Clark Evans
Evan Rogister, conductor
Francesca Zambello, director
Joshua R. Horowitz, associate director
Nov 15
Philip GLASS: La Belle et la Bête
March 14, 17, 20, 22m
MOZART: The Marriage of Figaro
Count Almaviva: Luke Sutliff
Countess Almaviva: Iulia Maria Dan
Susanna: Sydney Mancasola
Cherubino: Rihab Chaieb
Stephen Lawless, director
April 25, 28, May 1, 3m
PUCCINI: Turandot
Princess Turandot: Angela Meade
Calaf: Piero Pretti
Liù: Juliana Grigoryan
Timur: Peixin Chen
Iván López Reynoso, conductor
Tomer Zvulun, director
May 30, June 2, 5, 7m
WAGNER: Twilight of the Gods
Siegfried: Stefan Vinke
Brunnhilde: Lise Lindstrom
Hagen: Morris Robinson
Roberto Kalb, conductor
Tomer Zvulun, director