Cincinnati Opera announces 2021 festival and a return to live performances

Briana Rice
Cincinnati Enquirer

The Cincinnati Opera will return to Music Hall in 2021 with live performances and its annual Summer Festival.

The Cincinnati Opera canceled its 2020 season, which would have celebrated the 100th anniversary of the nation's second-oldest opera company, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We realize that planning to produce a full opera season in these uncertain times can seem audacious,” Evans Mirageas, the Harry T. Wilks artistic director of Cincinnati Opera, said in a press release. “But as long as there is a chance that conditions will allow us to inspire our community through live opera performances again, that will be our goal."

The 2021 Summer Festival will open on June 13 and will continue through July 25. 

Three operas that were originally scheduled to be presented in 2020 – "Castor and Patience," "Fierce" and "The Barber of Seville" – will be part of the 2021 Summer Festival. The season will also include favorites, "Carmen" and "Tosca."

Performances are scheduled to take place at Music Hall and the School for Creative and Performing Arts and will feature the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Cincinnati Opera’s 2021 season includes the return of the most popular opera of all time, "Carmen," in a production designed by R. Keith Brumley for Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

"We look to the future with optimism and embrace the same bold vision we have always had," Mirageas said. "That said, our plans are necessarily contingent on conditions that will allow us to ensure a safe experience for all. If we conclude we cannot, we’ll be prepared to adjust our programming and will communicate broadly with our patrons about their options."

Opera in the Park, the company's season-opening celebration concert in Washington Park will also return this year with free performances from the Cincinnati Opera Chorus, stars from the Cincinnati Opera's 2021 season and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Several events that were originally scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020, including The Ball of the Century, Opera for All, In Harmony Community Chorus, and Opera Goes to Church/Opera Goes to Temple, are currently being rescheduled for summer 2021. Details will be announced at a later date.

More information and ticket updates are available at cincinnatiopera.org.