Park City Opera Unveils 2026 Season of Global Works, Free Community Events

When Lena Goldstein co-founded Park City Opera, she had a straightforward observation: a city with a thriving arts scene had no opera. Her answer in 2026 is a season where 10 of 13 public events cost nothing to attend, placing performances at the Park City Library lawn and City Park across the heart of summer, when downtown foot traffic typically runs thin.

The two ticketed Main Stage productions frame the calendar. Aaron Copland's "The Tender Land" will open July 18 and 19 at Temple Har Shalom, accompanied by a 13-player orchestra and complimentary American light bites in an indoor-outdoor setting the company is staging in celebration of America's 250th anniversary. Artistic Director Benjamin Beckman describes the work as "the classic Americana opera." Charles Gounod's "Roméo & Juliette" follows Aug. 21 and 23 at the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, the largest Main Street venue in Park City's performing arts calendar. Lisl Wangermann, the company's development director and third co-founder, will direct both productions, with Beckman conducting.

Cincinnati soprano Rachel Kobernick will make her Park City Opera debut as Laurie in "The Tender Land." Bass-baritone Kevin Spooner takes the role of Frère Laurent in "Roméo & Juliette." Both are among several guest artists recruited nationally for the season.

The 10 free events include three "Opera on the Patio" performances at the Park City Library, back for a second year, and seven performances at City Park. No tickets or registration are required for any of them. A concert series produced in partnership with Mountain Town Music, the Park City nonprofit that regularly presents live music downtown, runs alongside the Main Stage schedule. Goldstein said the company has worked with "more than a dozen different community organizations," adding that "pretty much every event that we produce is done in partnership with another community organization."

The season also generated hiring before a single curtain rose. In March, Goldstein said the company was filling more than 12 part-time creative and administrative roles, ranging from lighting and costume designers to stage managers and front-of-house staff. "These roles have an integral part in shaping the kind of experience audiences would like to have while attending an opera in Park City during the summer," she said.

The Eccles Center booking for August and the multi-week City Park series place arts programming downtown through late summer, extending the effective event calendar past the ski season and into months that tourism planners and downtown business owners have long tried to anchor. With 200-plus families already enrolled in the company's Giving Circle, Park City Opera enters its most ambitious season yet with a built-in base, and a public schedule designed to expand well beyond it.

Tickets for the Main Stage productions are available at Park City Opera's website. General sales opened April 1.