Free Lecture/Listening Series
Opera Unlocked: Stories, Sounds and Secrets
Each spring, Opera Guild of Rochester invites opera lovers and the opera-curious alike to a free lecture series that is as entertaining as it is enlightening. Part talk, part curated video experience, these sessions provide historical background, musical insight, and dramatic context for operas and composers across the repertoire. Our goal is simple: to make opera more accessible, more understandable, and even more thrilling—especially works that can seem daunting at first encounter.
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Bonus content: browse our library of lectures and opera performance essays.
Brighton Memorial Library
2300 Elmwood Ave
Spring 2026
WEDNESDAY, March 4 • 6-7:45 pm
Inside an Opera Production:
What It Takes to Put a Production on Stage
Stephanie Havey, Artistic Director, Finger Lakes Opera
Bringing opera to the stage: Finger Lakes Opera (FLO) Artistic Director talks about her process from selecting titles, to casting, to incorporating all production and creative elements together for a successful opening night. A lot has to come together!
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When not spending her summer in Rochester, Stephanie is Opera Director and Assistant Professor at University of Michigan. Previously she served as the Director of Opera Theater at Oberlin Conservatory. Read Stephanie's bio here.
WEDNESDAY, March 11 • 6-7:45 pm
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The Nightingale in Rochester:
Jenny Lind Visits the Flour City
Gerry Szymanski, Librarian at Sibley Music Library at Eastman School of Music
In the summer of 1851, the arrival of Swedish singing sensation Jenny Lind created a wave of excitement around the City of Rochester. How did she get here, where did she perform, and what did she sing? This lively lecture, presented by Gerry Szymanski, librarian at the Eastman School of Music’s Sibley Music Library, will answer these questions and show the direct connection between her concerts and the founding of the Eastman School of Music.
WEDNESDAY, March 18 • 6-7:45 pm
Forbidden Love in Opera
Cindy Battisti, Opera Guild of Rochester Board Member
From secret affairs to impossible passions, forbidden love has fueled some of opera’s most powerful moments. Join us as we explore the scandals, sacrifices and soaring music behind opera’s most irresistible love stories.
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From Manon’s Seduction of Des Grieux as he prepares to enter the priesthood to the surrender of Tristan and Isolde to a power beyond their wills, we explore the tragedy of love that cannot be. Scenes from The Pearl Fishers, Turandot, La Rondine and many more explore the connections that society forbids.
WEDNESDAY, March 25 • 6-7:45 pm
Galuppi to Mozart: Comic Opera in the 18th Century
Carol Crocca, Past President and Opera Guild of Rochester Board Member
In the 18th century, comic opera eventually outstripped serious opera in popularity. Important developments in comedy helped make possible the Romantic period to follow, which produced those gems, both comic and tragic, which we treasure today: The Barber of Seville, Norma, Don Pasquale, La traviata, Carmen, La Boheme, to name a few. Come hear its story, together with delicious excerpts from the works of its culminating geniuses, including Mozart.
FREE
Lecture/Listening Series
Brighton Memorial Library
2300 Elmwood Ave
Spring 2023