Park City Opera Brings Trills and Thrills to Summit County

Though Society Hall, Park City’s historic opera house, burned down in the Main Street Fire of 1898, Lena Goldstein, Benjamin Beckman, and Lisl Wangermann aim to restore opera to the fore of local Arts & Culture programming with the launch of a new nonprofit, Park City Opera, dedicated to bringing live performance of opera to the Summit County community. Goldstein, Beckman, and Wangermann met as undergraduates, where they ran the Opera Theater of Yale College. “Managing that opera group was like a crash course in how to make opera,” says Executive Director Goldstein, “in our lives after college, we have each pursued performance careers—myself and Lisl as opera singers, and Ben as a pianist and conductor at opera houses—as well as artistic administration careers. We are thrilled to have our artistic journeys converge in Park City, where we can tailor events to first-time opera goers and aficionados alike!” Goldstein also has ties to the Arts Council, having worked as an intern in 2020 where she was “involved in the arts advocacy, marketing, publicity, and audience-building work on behalf of many emerging and established organizations in Park City. This work inspired me to bring a new kind of art to our community: opera.”

Park City Opera aims to program in harmony with the natural landscape of Summit County, reimagining the concert experience by performing in non-traditional and outdoor venues. This means opera lovers can look forward to a slate of Summer concerts, recitals, and lectures throughout our region. Goldstein says each program will feature “well-known excerpts from famous operas (La bohéme, La traviata, Roméo et Juliette) alongside thematically-relevant selections from the classical song repertoire.” Artistic Director Beckman sums up what attendees can expect: “In one night, our audience might both be excited to hear tunes they know and also encounter some less-heard repertoire that we are eager to share.”

Park City Opera’s mission is to reinvigorate a centuries-old tradition by creating opera that is relevant to our Summit County community now—“We are creating opera that takes place in nontraditional venues, embraces the outdoor landscape, is accessible to local audiences, and collaborates with other arts organizations in town,” explains Goldstein. “For residents and visitors to Summit County, this means that opera will now be offered in spots that you already frequent, including in galleries on Main St., at the Park City Library, and even on the trails, thanks to the Art Council’s Art Pianos for All initiative. If you’re new to opera, there’s no better way to grow to love this art form than to stumble upon it as you explore town.” As Director of Development Wangermann sees it, the addition of a local opera company to Park City’s bustling musical scene only enhances the diversity of existing programs: “I love going to see the live events sponsored by Mountain Town Music. Bluegrass and folk music are not go-to genres for me usually, but being outside with my friends, having a picnic, and listening to live music is one of the best ways to spend an evening!”

For Goldstein, Park City Opera represents a thrilling opportunity to bring an older artform to modern audiences while encouraging community engagement and artistic collaboration: “Opera is a spectacle. At its core, it brings together an orchestra, singers, and staged drama to convey a story in a way most mediums cannot. Since it was created in 16th century Italy, opera has evolved for centuries to become the global art-form that it is today.” She emphasizes the dramatic scale of operatic productions—“you need singers, instrumentalists, directors, stage managers, costume designers, set designers, and potentially dancers, projection designers, lighting designers...the list goes on! Collaboration brings people together, so we think that there is room in every growing community for an opera company.”

Summit County residents and visitors will be able to experience Park City Opera’s debut Summer performances across a variety of venues, including the Park City Library, Trove Gallery, Meyer Gallery, Our Lady of the Snows in Alta, the Park City Senior Center, Temple Har Shalom, and more. Goldstein is heartened by the welcome her nonprofit has received: “Everyone that we have reached out to has been welcoming and enthusiastic about bringing opera to their space, and that has been very encouraging.”

Follow Park City Opera at @parkcityopera, sign up for their newsletter, and check out their upcoming events at www.parkcityopera.org/events.