This season, Elkhanah Pulitzer directs Chanticleer’s The Machaut Project (Sep 13–20), Nixon in China at Washington National Opera with Thomas Hampson and Renée Fleming (Nov 14–21), Golijov’s Ayre at Boston Lyric Opera (June 17–20), and more

Elkhanah Pulitzer (photo: Dario Acosta)

(August 2026) — Groundbreaking director Elkhanah Pulitzer, whose “superb direction …  transformed the stage into a heavenly realm of spiritual wonder” (Arts Beat LA) in the world premiere production of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s HILDEGARD last season, stages opera productions, concert performances, and a one-woman show with orchestra in the 2026–27 season. Building on her longstanding working relationship with composer John Adams, Pulitzer directs a production of his Nixon in China at Washington National Opera that stars Thomas Hampson in the title role opposite Renée Fleming as Pat Nixon (Nov 14–21). The director returns to the same work in the spring for a semi-staged performance – created for the concert hall – with the Pacific Symphony, under the baton of Artistic and Music Director Alexander Shelley (April 8–13). Also in the spring, Pulitzer directs soprano Ailyn Pérez in a staging of Osvaldo Golijov’s multicultural and multi-lingual song cycle Ayre – with sung and spoken texts in Ladino, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, Sardinian, and English – at Boston Lyric Opera (June 17–20). Known for her ability to bring a fresh perspective to any kind of live performance, on or off the theatrical stage, in the fall Pulitzer joins celebrated vocal ensemble Chanticleer to create an immersive staging for The Machaut Project, the group’s first fully staged performance in decades (Sep 13–20). Also continuing this season is Pulitzer’s production of the multisensory performance series FRAGMENTS, directed for cellist Alisa Weilerstein. This season, Weilerstein performs Parts 1 & 2 of the six-part series on tour in Taiwan and China (Sep 13 & 20), Part 5 in San Diego (April 16), and Part 6 in Carnegie Hall, completing the cycle of FRAGMENTS performances at that venue (Nov 5).

Nixon in China in Washington, DC and California; Golijov’s Ayre

Pulitzer made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2025 with her “visually stunning, well-paced production” (Opera News) of John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra – which had already been seen in its world premiere at San Francisco Opera and European premiere at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. Her experience bringing Adams’s works to the stage takes her this season to Washington National Opera for a new interpretation of Nixon in China starring Thomas Hampson and Renée Fleming as the president and first lady. Conducted by Robert Spano, the reimagined production incorporates rare archival footage of the historic 1972 visit that inspired Adams’s opera (Nov 14–21). Later in the season, Pulitzer returns to Nixon in China for a semi-staged production with the Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale, led by Artistic and Music Director Alexander Shelley. Though the opera was staged at Long Beach Opera in neighboring Los Angeles County in 2010, this will be the first production of Nixon in China to actually take place in Richard and Pat Nixon’s home territory of Orange County (April 8–13).

Pulitzer’s productions often incorporate multiple streams of influence – musical, literary, cultural, or otherwise – as a way of making them, in the director’s words, “stand out and vibrate more.” Osvaldo Golijov’s song cycle Ayre could be described the same way, built as it is on the clash and blending of cultures in Spain before the centuries-long Reconquista that eliminated Muslim rule in 1492. Incorporating Byzantine chant, Sephardic lullabies, Arab, Hebrew and Christian texts, the 2005 work was praised by The Globe and Mail with the comment that it “may be one of the defining works of the new century.” Pulitzer’s staging of the piece for Ailyn Pérez emphasizes the tension between restraint and eruption, inspired in part by John Singer Sargent’s painting El Jaleo, which depicts a Spanish Romani dancer performing to the accompaniment of musicians. Pérez performs the work alongside the Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra (June 17–20).

Praise for world premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s HILDEGARD

Last season, Pulitzer directed the world premiere production – commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and the Aspen Music Festival – of Sarah Kirkland Snider‘s HILDEGARD in Los Angeles and New York. The opera tells a story from the life of Hildegard von Bingen, when, despite the threat of being branded a heretic, she decides to document the visions she is receiving from God. She enlists her fellow nun Richardis von Stade to illustrate the manuscript, developing a forbidden romantic attachment to her in the process. The New York Times found the opera “gorgeously mesmerizing,” and the work was named Best New Opera of 2026 by the Music Critics Association of America. Seen and Heard International complimented Pulitzer’s “efficient and visually engaging production,” while The Wall Street Journal observed that the direction “segued smoothly from the real to the visionary.” Arts Beat LA raved:

“Making its highly anticipated world premiere this past weekend, Sarah Kirkland Snider’s new opera Hildegard … proved a dazzling experience. Musically, dramatically, and visually, the work was an astonishing achievement. … Elkhanah Pulitzer’s superb direction, supported by the stunning projections and simple yet elegant staging and scenic design, transformed the stage into a heavenly realm of spiritual wonder.”

Elkhanah Pulitzer: upcoming projects

Sep 13m, 13, 17, 19m, 19, 20
San Francisco, CA
ODC Theater
Chanticleer: The Machaut Project

Sep 13 & 20
Alisa Weilerstein Asia tour of FRAGMENTS 1: Wonder and FRAGMENTS 2: Tumult
   Sep 13: Taipei, Taiwan
   Sep 20: Shanghai, China
Alisa Weilerstein, cello

Nov 5
New York, NY
Carnegie Hall
FRAGMENTS 6: Radiance
Alisa Weilerstein, cello

Nov 14, 19, 21
Washington, DC
DAR Constitution Hall
Washington National Opera
John ADAMS: Nixon in China
Thomas Hampson: Richard Nixon
Renée Fleming: Pat Nixon

April 8, 10, 13
Irvine, CA
Pacific Symphony
Pacific Chorale
Alexander Shelley, conductor
John ADAMS: Nixon in China (semi-staged; Orange County premiere)

April 16
San Diego, CA
FRAGMENTS 5: Lament
Alisa Weilerstein, cello

June 17-20
Boston, MA
Boston Lyric Opera
Osvaldo GOLIJOV: Ayre
Ailyn Pérez, soprano