The Atlanta Opera has announced the formation of the Atlanta Opera Company Players, featuring 12 world-class singers.

The 12 artists will collaborate with the company’s leadership team to reimagine its 2020–21 season. Among the singers are sopranos Jasmine Habersham and Talise Trevigne; mezzos Jamie Barton, Daniela Mack, and Megan Marino; tenors Alek Shrader and Richard Trey Smagur; baritones Michael Mayes and Reginald Smith Jr.; bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, and basses Kevin Burdette and Morris Robinson.

To complete the Company Players will be this season’s six emerging young members of The Atlanta Opera Studio Artists program.

Together with the Atlanta Opera, the company players will develop and take part in flexible, adaptable plans for live presentations at a new open-air venue and creative digital media alternatives in case live performance should once again be contraindicated. Additionally, the 12 singers will serve as mentors to the six Studio Artists.

The Atlanta Opera has also put together a new Health and Safety Advisory Board to allow these changes to take place.

Saying that these recent months have been devastating to the performing arts world is an understatement. It’s time for The Atlanta Opera to step up and create a program based in our community, that’s all about belonging and giving back. Some of the best international talent in opera lives down the street from The Atlanta Opera, and these artists want to stay home, perform here safely and connect with their community,” Tomer Zvulun, The Atlanta Opera’s Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director said in a press release. “ We have been dreaming of creating a European-style ‘fest model,’ and now the time is right. There are far more world-class artists based in Atlanta and the southeast than these magnificent twelve, and we only wish we could have included them all. Together we plan to present a season full of fantastic collaborations, a sense of community pride, and the potential for artistic fireworks.”

The Atlanta Opera also announced that previously scheduled 2020-21 operas will be postponed until 2021-22. As a result, the 2021-22 season will showcase “Das Rheingold,” “The Sound of Music,” and “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.” The season will also bring the Atlanta premiere of “As One,” “The Barber of Seville,” “La Bohème,” and “Madama Butterfly.”