Intro to Opera With the Berkshire Opera Festival

April 12 | Great Barrington, MA | 2pm | Free

The Berkshire Opera Festival returns to the Mahaiwe's Indigo Room on Sunday, April 12 with "Once Upon an Opera," a free, one-hour family concert designed to bring opera to audiences who may never have sat through one.

Back by popular demand, the show is built around opera's most recognizable melodies, drawn from composers including Mozart, Verdi, Gounod, and Offenbach. What sets it apart from a standard sampler concert is its format: the production is interactive, with the cast engaging directly with the audience throughout. A script by BOF artistic coordinator, assistant conductor, and chorus master Luca Antonucci holds it together, and Sarah Prouty, BOF's community engagement officer, narrates.

The performers are a strong lineup of emerging voices. Soprano Juliet Schlefer is a 2025 Young Concert Artists semi-finalist and first-place winner of the Musicians Club of Women competition, with fellowships at Tanglewood, Toronto Summer Music, and New Music on the Point. Mezzo-soprano Abbegael Greene, a graduate of the Bard College Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts Program, appeared as Marthe Schwerlein in BOF's production of "Faust." Tenor Maximillian Jansen sang Gastone in BOF's "La Traviata" and has performed with Opera Saratoga and the New York Choral Society. Pianist Charles Tsui, Artist Associate in Collaborative Piano at Williams College, rounds out the ensemble.

The Indigo Room is an intimate space, and seating is limited, reservations are strongly encouraged even though admission is free.

Indigo Room, Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 20 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA. Free; reservations at berkshireoperafestival.org