NY OPERA CONSERVATORY: FREE July-August 2026 Summer Opera Series – Croton Free Library

The Taconic Opera summer program for emerging opera singers, New York Opera Conservatory (NYOC), offers you an opportunity to hear the upcoming generation of professionally trained singers as they gain valuable experience perfecting their craft in a leading role. Established in 2018, the NYOC helps to fill an unmet need among trained singers to gain hands-on experience through actual performance.

Each event in the series listed below – one tragedy and one comedy – will have a different cast, making every performance completely unique from all the others!  Each performance includes the complete opera and is fully-staged. The quality and originality of this kind of personal, up-close experience defy all expectations.

July Opera:  Rigoletto by Verdi -Tragedy

In true Verdi fashion, this opera is a gripping story of love, hate, revenge, betrayal and sacrifice, set to a roller coaster ride of music (including La donna è mobile). Rigoletto is the story of an unscrupulous court jester (Rigoletto) and his equally unscrupulous and womanizing master, the Duke.  A nobleman places a curse on both of them after a cruel joke. Rigoletto’s daughter (Gilda) has been hidden away by her father and knows little about the world. In a cruel twist of fate, the Duke finds and easily seduces the innocent young woman who in turn saves the Duke from assassination. Rigoletto’s attempt at revenge ends up destroying the most precious part of his life.

Dates:  Wednesday, July 8, 7:00 pm

             Friday, July 10, 7:00 pm

             Sunday, July 12, 3:00 pm

August Opera: La fille du regiment (Daughter of the Regiment) by Donizetti – Comedy

Donizetti meets the Jetsons in this hilarious romp through the French countryside 200 years in the future. A young girl is lost and raised by a regiment of soldiers. She is followed by a young man who joins the regiment just to be near her. Later, she discovers she was born into aristocracy, but her new found family refuses to allow her to marry her boyfriend and has already arranged another marriage for her. The opera features one of opera’s most famous tenor arias, “Ah, mes ami,” which features nine high Cs!

Dates:  Wednesday, August 12, 7:00 pm

             Friday, August 14, 7:00 pm

             Sunday, August 16, 3:00 pm

Location:  Croton Free Library

       171 Cleveland Drive

       Croton-on-Hudson, NY

Fee:  FREE

For information about becoming a student in the NY Opera Conservatory, visit the Conservatory website: https://www.newyorkoperaconservatory.com/

For general information about Taconic Opera and NY Opera Conservatory events, visit the website: https://taconicopera.org/