MNOP+ PERFORMANCES
Deepen your connection to opera throughout the 2025-2026 Season.
TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE!
These special, artist-driven events get you closer to the artists and their process in the intimate setting of the Luminary Arts Center.
Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 7pm
The Chamber Music of Florence Price with Members of the MN Opera Orchestra, Resident Artist Kara Morgan, and Celeste Marie Johnson
Saturday, February 28, 2026 at 7pm
New Works Initiative Song Cycle Premiere with MN Opera Resident Artists and Mario Antonio Marra
Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 7pm
Resident Artist Concert with MN Opera Resident Artists and John Churchwell
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 7pm
Gospel Night with Reginald Smith, Jr. and Chaz’men Williams-Ali
ARTISTS
Learn MoreThe Chamber Music of Florence Price
BUY TICKETSMN Opera Orchestra, Kara Morgan, & Celeste Marie Johnson
Saturday, January 17th, 2026 | 7pm, Luminary Arts Center
Composer Florence Price made history as the first Black woman to have a symphony performed by a major U.S. orchestra. Minnesota Opera will tell her story in its 51st world premiere, My Name is Florence, with music by B.E. Boykin and libretto by Harrison David Rivers.
We invite you to experience Florence Price’s story through her own music. Members of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, Principal Coach & Chorus Director Celeste Marie Johnson, and 2nd year Resident Artist mezzo-soprano Kara Morgan will perform chamber and vocal music composed by Price, who boldly blended her classical music training with the power and vulnerability of spirituals in so much of her work.
New Works Initiative Song Cycle Premiere
BUY TICKETSMN Opera Resident Artists & Mario Antonio Marra
Saturday, February 28th, 2026 | 7pm, Luminary Arts Center
Minnesota Opera’s first song cycle world premiere of its New Works Initiative will leave you in tears of… heartbreak?
Or hilarity? Join us to find out.
Tenor Ángel Vargas and pianist Fumiyasu Kawase will perform the world premiere of the first song cycle in Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative, with music by David Hanlon and text by John De Los Santos. Resident Soprano Kylie Kreucher will perform songs of Schoenberg, Herrmann, Marx, and Korngold, and baritone David Wolfe will perform Benjamin Britten’s Songs and Proverbs of William Blake with Mario Antonio Marra (Head of Music and Director of Resident Artist Program) at the piano.
John Churchwell Residency
BUY TICKETSMN Opera Resident Artists & John Churchwell
Saturday, March 21, 2026 | 7pm, Luminary Arts Center
Join us for a beautifully program for our Minnesota Opera Resident Artists both curated by and performed with John Churchwell, one of the leading collaborative pianists of his generation and the Vocal Institute Co-Director at Music Academy of the West.
Minnesota Opera Resident Artists Kylie Kreucher, Kara Morgan, Ángel Vargas, David Wolfe, John Mburu, and Fumiyasu Kawase will perform in a concert thoughtfully curated by master coach and University of Minnesota alum John Churchwell, who serves as the Co-Director of the Vocal Institute at Music Academy of the West. John Churchwell has served as an assistant conductor to both the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera for 14 years and has appeared in recital with Renée Fleming, Sasha Cooke, Susanna Phillips, Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Diana Damrau, Larry Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Isabel Leonard, Frederica von Stade, Dawn Upshaw, and Carol Vaness.
Gospel Night
BUY TICKETSReginald Smith, Jr., Chaz'men Williams-Ali, & Joseph Li
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 | 7pm, Luminary Arts Center
It’s about to be a blessing. Join baritone Reginald Smith, Jr (Pagliacci) and tenor Chaz’men William-Ali for a rousing evening of gospel music with Joseph Li at the piano.
GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr (Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera) and tenor Chaz’men William-Ali (English National Opera, Duch National Opera, Washington National Opera) will curate and perform an evening gospel music with Joseph Li (Minnesota Opera VP, Artistic) at the piano.