[Saratoga Springs, NY] — February 9, 2023 Mary Birnbaum, a decorated opera director, takes the reins of Opera Saratoga ahead of the 2023 summer festival season.
Opera Saratoga’s board of directors announces that Mary Birnbaum has been named the company’s new general and artistic director. She succeeds former General and Artistic Director Lawrence Edelson, whose eight year tenure concluded at the end of the 2022 season. Birnbaum is the tenth general director in the Opera Saratoga’s celebrated history. Board President Steve Rosenblum shared, “We are incredibly excited and honored to have Mary Birnbaum join Opera Saratoga. She was selected after an extensive nationwide search, in which we interviewed many highly qualified candidates. Mary’s level of enthusiasm and love of opera are infectious and I am certain she will be an inspirational leader for the company as well as an integral part of the Saratoga Springs community.”
Birnbaum is a stage director, educator, and artistic leader, whose impressive international career has garnered great attention and positioned her well to lead Opera Saratoga, an organization which has been an integral part in the local arts scene for over 60 years. In addition to her appointment at Opera Saratoga, Birnbaum is on faculty at The Juilliard School where she teaches and coaches acting for singers as the Dramatic Advisor to the Masters of Music and Graduate Diploma Program at the Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts. She was Juilliard’s inaugural directing fellow in Vocal Arts, and she will continue her role as a faculty member and Dramatic Advisor to graduate-level singers.
Birnbaum, whose stage direction of opera and theatre New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini called “viscerally overwhelming” (Rape of Lucretia at Juilliard) and “genuinely insightful…vibrant” (The Classical Style at Carnegie Hall), has worked both internationally, from Taiwan (Otello) to Central America (L’elisir d’amore and La bohème at the National Theatre of Costa Rica and Querido Arte in Guatemala), Australia and Israel, and across the U.S. (Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Opera Columbus, Virginia Arts Festival (Kept), Ojai Festival, and Boston Baroque.
One of the few women to open the Santa Fe Opera season with her own production, Birnbaum has received recognition for her work and acclaimed merit in the field; she was nominated for “Best Newcomer” at the 2015 International OperaAwards, and selected as first recipient of the James S. Marcus Directing Fellowship at Juilliard. In addition to her accolades as stage director, Ms. Birnbaum has also taught at the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann program, Bard, and Harvard. A graduate of Harvard College, she also trained professionally in physical theater at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
“I am thrilled to accept the position of General and Artistic Director of Opera Saratoga,” says Birnbaum, “and look forward to collaborating with the talented staff and superior board of directors to bring exceptional music theater to Saratoga Springs and the surrounding communities. The company has been a leader in our field under the direction of the board and Larry Edelson and I will be proud to continue the company’s tradition of producing new operatic works as well as traditional works from the canon of opera and music theater. Part of the allure of working with Opera Saratoga was the richness of the artistic and intellectual community in the area and I can’t wait to find ways to partner with other local organizations.”
In her role as general and artistic director, Birnbaum will be responsible for producing the annual opera festival and overseeing Opera Saratoga staff in all elements of programming, community engagement, fundraising, and artist development; while also directing or working with guest directors, conductors, and designers. Ms. Birnbaum is a welcome addition to the Opera Saratoga leadership team, and will propel the organization forward in high artistic merit, as the company continues to collaborate with creative partners and serve audiences throughout the greater Capital Region. Chairman of the Board, Robert Miller shares that “Mary’s impressive background in the arts and her commitment to excellence, collaboration, and community will serve Opera Saratoga well. Her affiliation within NYC and at Juilliard will bolster Opera Saratoga’s already strong young artists’ program. We could not be more pleased that Mary is joining us.”
Upstate New York audiences will have an opportunity to meet Mary this summer, during the 2023 festival season. Her introduction to the Saratoga Springs public will happen at Opera Saratoga’s Annual Gala, on Thursday, June 8, 2023 at the Saratoga National Golf Club. More information can be found at https://www.operasaratoga.org/opera-gala-2023
Opera Saratoga originated as Lake George Opera Festival with a production of Die Fledermaus at the Diamond Point Theatre on July 5, 1962. The company now calls Saratoga Springs home and performs for more than 25,000 people annually. To date, the company has performed 90 different fully staged works by 52 different composers, including 33 works by American composers and 10 premiere productions. Opera Saratoga’s Young Artist Program is the second oldest artist development program in the nation, with over 1,000 applicants per year. Opera Saratoga continues to entertain, enrich, and inspire the communities of Saratoga Springs, the Lower Adirondack and New York State Capital areas by providing access to world-class opera through the production of an annual Summer Festival, as well as year-round activities including extensive educational programs, mentorship of emerging operatic artists, and unique opportunities for the public to experience opera. In 2022, Opera Saratoga launched the Songs by Heart program benefiting those affected by Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
Opera Saratoga’s 2023 SUMMER FESTIVAL, curated by Managing Director Amanda Robie, will take place from June 30 to July 9 and includes performances of Don Pasquale, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and The Selfish Giant. Don Pasquale features returning principal and former Opera Saratoga Young Artist Andy Papas as Don Pasquale, directed by former Opera Saratoga Young Artist Meaghan Deiter and conducted by Brian Garman. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder features former Opera Saratoga Young Artist Eric McConnell in his first appearance as a guest artist as “The D’Ysquith Family,” playing nine roles! Conductor Laura Bergquist returns once again to the Opera Saratoga podium with David Gram as director. The Selfish Giant, based on the short story by Oscar Wilde, features music direction by Nathan Cicero, and a cast comprised of Opera Saratoga Young Artists. More details about Opera Saratoga and its 2023 Festival Season, including how to buy tickets, can be found at www.operasaratoga.org.
AMERICA SINGS is a concert series that amplifies the voices of BIPOC artists who have historically been underrepresented on the concert stage. Each event will feature a wide array of music, in recital curated directly by the singers. AMERICA SINGS concerts will be hosted at Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, and will also be live-streamed to the public for free, but viewers are encouraged to contribute through a virtual “tip jar” donation to support both Opera Saratoga artists and this concert series. The series kicks off on Sunday, February 19 at 1 pm with Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd and pianist Juan Lázaro. https://www.operasaratoga.org/america-sings
OPERA SARATOGA SONGS BY HEART is an engagement-centered program developed for memory care communities where a professional level singer leads an interactive sing-along. The singers use therapeutic techniques such as mirroring, verbal and gestural promptings, making direct eye contact, and holding hands with residents throughout the program. Singers encourage residents to join in the singing, clapping, and dancing, as well as engage in conversations centered around the musical selections. This program, launched in November 2022 with seed funding from OPERA America and NEA serves communities in the greater Capital and Lower Adirondack Regions. Opera Saratoga is the first opera company in the nation to provide this sort of therapeutic memory care to its local community. This is the first, and presently the only, program of its kind in New York State. https://www.operasaratoga.org/songsbyheart
OPERA-TO-GO is Opera Saratoga’s beloved music education program. It gives a world premiere this summer to The Selfish Giant with Music by Clarice Assad and Libretto by Lila Palmer, created under the auspices of American Lyric Theater’s Composer-Librettist Development program. Based on the classic story by Oscar Wilde, The Selfish Giant has been developed for elementary school touring programs. The themes of The Selfish Giant are so important today, including what it means to be other/excluded, and gaining an awareness of others’ realities; the responsibility we have to share our resources; and how the walls we build to protect ourselves out of fear actually divide us further. Through a beloved fairy tale, young audiences (and those who are young at heart!) are taken on a magical journey about the power that kindness has to transform, and that empathy has to bridge the gap between who we appear to be and who we truly are.
