Join conductor and educator Oliver Prezant for a series of FREE, fun, informative talks on opera. Each talk will introduce you to opera basics while previewing one of the five operas of the Santa Fe Opera’s 2025 Season.

• Learn about the stories, the characters, the music and the text
• Explore the building blocks of opera and how they’ve changed over time
• Gain insight into how to listen to the singers and the orchestra
• Get tips on how to understand the sets, props, costumes, and lighting
• Hear about the composers, the librettists, and the genesis of the opera
• Develop an understanding of where each work fits within the history of opera.

Best of all, you’ll have a chance to go into each performance with the confidence to relax, enjoy, and get the most out of your experience in the opera house.

Five Friday evenings in Santa Fe from 5:30 to 7 pm
Collected Works Bookstore: 202 Galisteo St., Santa Fe, NM

Five Saturday afternoons in Placitas from 2 to 3:30 pm
Las Placitas Presbyterian Church: 7 Paseo de San Antonio Rd., Placitas, NM

La bohème by Giacomo Puccini
Santa Fe: Friday, April 11, 5:30 – 7 pm
Placitas: Saturday, April 12, 2 – 3:30 pm

The Marriage of Figaro by W. A. Mozart
Santa Fe: Friday, April 25, 5:30 – 7 pm
Placitas: Saturday, April 26, 2 – 3:30 pm

Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
Santa Fe: Friday, May 9, 5:30 – 7 pm
Placitas: Saturday, May 10, 2 – 3:30 pm

The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten
Santa Fe: Friday, May 23, 5:30 – 7 pm
Placitas: Saturday, May 24, 2 – 3:30 pm

Die Walküre by Richard Wagner
Santa Fe: Friday, June 6, 5:30 – 7 pm
Placitas: Saturday, June 7, 2 – 3:30 pm

These events are FREE. No reservation necessary. Seating is first come, first served.

For more information please contact Anna Garcia at agarcia@santafeopera.org.
For more information on Oliver Prezant, visit www.oliverprezant.com

Conductor and arts educator Oliver Prezant has presented lectures and education programs for organizations including the Santa Fe Opera, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Opera Southwest, Chamber Music Albuquerque, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, as well as programs on the relationship of music and visual art for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Albuquerque Museum of Art. He is currently the Executive and Artistic Director of Opus OP Arts and Education Projects, which provides music and arts programs for listeners, musicians, and teachers.

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