Boston Lyric Opera, Celebrity Series of Boston announce 2025-26 seasons

Boston Globe

14-05-2025

The remaining three productions are a one-night only performance of 'Ride of the Valkyries!,' an original operatic entertainment starring Christine Goerke and Morris Robinson (Nov. 12); an already-announced concert performance of 'Vanessa' in collaboration with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Jan. 8 and 10), and an installation of Gustav Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' directed by Anne Bogart and starring Raehann Bryce-Davis and Brandon Jovanovich (March 20-29). The latter will be the first major event BLO will host in its newly renovated Opera + Community Studios in Fort Point.
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Though 'Das Lied von der Erde' is a symphonic work with vocal soloists, not an opera, Vernatter said it would be 'fully staged as a dramatic work with a narrative,' on a similar scale to previous BLO productions in nontraditional venues such as 2023's 'Bluebeard's Castle/Four Last Songs' at Flynn Cruiseport. Bryce-Davis will also present a solo recital in the Fort Point venue, on March 24. Subscriptions are available now; single tickets will be available for purchase at a later date.
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Yunchan Lim.
James Hole
Celebrity Series's upcoming season features dozens of performances across classical, jazz, and dance. Artistic director Nicole Taney said she found it hard to choose which event she was most excited to have on the bill. 'They're all my favorite children,' she said, but shouted out performances by pianist Yunchan Lim (Oct. 22), accordionist Théo Ould (Dec. 2), the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer and members of the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with music director designate Klaus Mäkelä.
Further highlights of the subscription season before New Year 2026 include a recital by mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges at Groton Hill Music Center (Oct. 9), a return performance by adventurous Nordic roots trio Dreamers' Circus (Oct. 26), a debut series performance by acclaimed young violinist (and current New England Conservatory student) Amaryn Olmeda (Nov. 17), and an evening uniting Third Coast Percussion with choreography by street dance specialists Lil Buck and Jon Boogz (Nov. 22 and 23).
This year for the first time, Celebrity Series's free Neighborhood Arts performance series is also included in the season brochure. Taney said she had intended to bring the series, which largely features artists with ties to the Boston area, 'under the same umbrella' as the subscription series. 'It really does showcase all of what we do,' said Taney of the Neighborhood Arts series. The first half of the season includes performances by Grammy-winning jazz trombonist Kalia Vandever with harpist Charles Overton (Sept. 20), violinist Adrian Anantawan (Sept. 27), global music ensemble Biribá Union (Oct. 19 and Oct. 25), Afro-Haitian dance company Jean Appolon Expressions (Nov. 15) and pianist Kevin Harris, who will perform a new suite inspired by the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (Dec. 6).
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Jean Appolon Expressions.
Mika Pasco
Subscriptions will be available to the public on May 22, with single tickets for fall performances available Aug. 7.
Both organizations typically receive some project-based funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, but they don't expect that will continue in the near future given President Trump's recent cuts to the agency and the termination of grants.
Celebrity Series executive director Gary Dunning clarified that the organization received its 2024-25 grant money shortly after New Year 2025, but 'we have not received any notification — which we normally would have — for next year's grant, which we fully expect will never happen.' BLO received an email from the agency on Friday, May 2 informing it that its award had been terminated, effective May 31.
Federal grant money was not a critical chunk in the operating budgets for either organization, but BLO general director Bradley Vernatter said he was concerned about the arts sphere as a whole. 'The entire situation is having a profound impact on the arts community, and creating pressures' on both artists and individual philanthropists, he said. 'It has a ripple effect through the entire ecosystem.'
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA
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617-542-6772, www.blo.org
CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON
617-482-2595, www.celebrityseries.org
A.Z. Madonna can be reached at