Boston is about to toast half a century of great opera. Boston Lyric Opera, New England’s largest and most enduring opera company, marks its 50th anniversary with a milestone Opera Gala on Friday, October 16 at 5:30 pm — an evening that celebrates the company’s past and raises a curtain on its future.
The gala honors three figures who shaped the company’s story: internationally acclaimed soprano Deborah Voigt, whose breakout performance as Ariadne in BLO’s 1991 Ariadne auf Naxos launched a legendary career; Michael Bobbitt; and longtime arts-education patron Linda Cabot Black. The night culminates in a special performance by world-class American tenor Michael Fabiano, a joyful celebration of opera’s power to bring people together.
The celebration caps BLO’s biggest year yet — an 18-month anniversary observance that includes new Opera + Community Studios in Fort Point, a season that brought Rossini’s William Tell back to a Boston stage for the first time in over 150 years, and upcoming productions like Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire this November. Best of all, the gala fuels BLO’s community work: thousands of students reached through in-school programs, free performances, and partnerships across Boston’s neighborhoods.
Half a century of opera in Boston deserves a big, beautiful night — and this one promises to be exactly that.
Photo: Boston Lyric Opera
