Deepen your experience and understanding of opera with Opera Basics — a series of five free, informative talks that will introduce you to the building blocks of opera while previewing the five productions of the Santa Fe Opera’s 2026 Season: Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Handel’s Rodelinda, and the American premiere of Tobias Picker’s Lili Elbe.

• Learn about the stories, the characters, the music, and the text
• Gain insight into how to listen to the singers and the orchestra
• Learn about the composers, the librettists, and the genesis of the operas
• Get tips on how to understand the sets, props, costumes, and the directors’ concepts

FREE with a reservation! Seating is first come, first served.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Oliver Prezant
Conductor and arts educator Oliver Prezant has presented lectures and education programs for organizations including the Santa Fe Opera, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Opera Southwest, Chamber Music Albuquerque and the National Hispanic Cultural Center, as well as programs exploring the relationship between music and visual art for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Albuquerque Museum. He is currently the Executive and Artistic Director of Opus OP Arts and Education Projects, which provides music and arts programs for listeners, musicians and teachers.