BERKSHIRE OPERA FESTIVAL (BOF), the ambitious company, which has restored world-class, fully-staged opera to the Berkshires with savvy productions and superlative casts, mounts a new mainstage production of Verdi’s masterpiece
LA TRAVIATA on August 23, 26, 29
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, MA
Soprano VANESSA BECERRA – Violetta Valéry
Tenor JOSHUA BLUE – Alfredo Germont
Baritone DARREN DRONE – Giorgio Germont
Mezzo-soprano JOANNE EVANS – Flora Bervoix
Tenor MAXIMILLIAN JANSEN – Gastone
Bass-baritone JOHN CHEEK – Doctor Grenvil
Baritone YAZID GRAY – Baron Douphol
Baritone ADAM PARTRIDGE – The Marquis of Obigny
Conducted by BRIAN GARMAN
Stage Direction by JONATHON LOY
Top L-R: Vanessa Becerra, Joshua Blue, Darren Drone, Joanne Evans
Bottom L-R: Maximillian Jansen, John Cheek, Yazid Gray, Adam Partridge
✶Plus a spectacular 10th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT on August 14
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, MA
BOF celebrates its past, present, and future with music from beloved operas and new favorites Featuring members of the cast of La Traviata and guest artists with the Berkshire Opera Festival Orchestra and Chorus under the musical direction of Brian Garman
And this spring, BOF presents a recital with rising stars:
April 27
St. James Place in Great Barrington, MA
TICKETS ON SALE NOW:
berkshireoperafestival.org
BOF 2025 Calendar
April 27:Young Verdi in Love Recital at St. James Place in Great Barrington
March 2: Free Family Concert at Mahaiwe
June 1: Gala in Lenox
July 24: La Traviata Preview Talk at Mahaiwe
August 14: 10th Anniversary Concert at Mahaiwe
August 23: Pre-show lecture by Cori Ellison before La Traviata at Mahaiwe
August 23, 26, 29:La Traviata at Mahaiwe
Great Barrington, MA — The “innovative, clever and thoroughly professional” (Bachtrack) BERKSHIRE OPERA FESTIVAL (BOF) announces its tenth anniversary season in Great Barrington, MA, with presentations in spring and summer 2025. The only company of its kind in the Berkshire region, BOF produces opera at the highest level under the vision of esteemed co-founders Brian Garman (William E. Briggs Artistic Director) and Jonathon Loy (Director of Production).
The 2025 mainstage attraction is a new production of one of the most popular operas of all time: Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata. BOF will bring it to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on August 23, 26, and 29. The Mahaiwe and BOF formalized a multi-year partnership last year, committing to bring world-class performing arts to the Berkshires.
Brian Garman says: “For the centerpiece of our celebratory 10th Anniversary Season, I’m thrilled to present Verdi’s masterpiece of love and sacrifice, La Traviata. I know our audiences will be delighted by the beautiful and passionate singing of our internationally-renowned cast. And the celebration starts even earlier in August with a gala concert to mark our 10th Anniversary. It features many operatic favorites from Handel, Mozart, Puccini, and everything in between. This is a season not to be missed!”
BOF is also excited to produce a special 10th Anniversary Concert at the Mahaiwe on August 14, featuring music from beloved operas and performances by top talent from previous and upcoming seasons along with members of the cast of La Traviata. On April 27, the recital Young Verdi in Love will showcase some of the brilliant young singers that BOF is known for tapping.
A combination of exceptional singers, a great orchestra, and arresting productions, all in a perfectly sized theater for unamplified voices (680 seats) and at affordable prices has led national opera critics to declare “destination” status on Berkshire Opera Festival. And as the local Berkshire On Stage writes: “No longer need we confine our opera-going to HD films—now we have the highest quality productions and performers in our own backyard.”
“This festival is garnering a reputation as a showcase for promising young artists.”
— A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe
“BOF’s productions rival those of much larger companies.The BOF orchestra and chorus are always top notch, the cast first rate, the direction brilliant, the sets elegant, and the costumes gorgeous.”
— David Noel Edwards, The Berkshire Edge
About Berkshire Opera Festival
Berkshire Opera Festival (BOF) is a fully-producing summer festival founded by Jonathon Loy and Brian Garman which presented its first season in 2016. The mission of Berkshire Opera Festival is to entertain and enrich the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds throughout the Berkshire region by providing accessible and affordable performances of a broad range of operas with the highest artistic standards. Each summer, BOF presents musically and dramatically compelling operatic productions, in addition to recitals and other related musical events. Recent productions include Gounod’s Faust, Puccini’s La Bohème, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, Verdi’s Falstaff, Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale.
