News & Reviews

Operawire.com Sabrina Matthews March 24, 2026 Those accustomed to the grandeur of larger houses like the Metropolitan Opera might approach a performance at the Virginia Opera with moderated expectations, but the company proves such caution unnecessary. While the scale...

The Virginian-Pilot Page Laws March 19, 2026 Now looming large at our own Virginia Opera, "Aida" is grand opera with an equally monumental history: in its origins, its past performances and its theatrical punch. This particular "Aida" is large and grand in a new,...

VPM Mike Goldberg March 18, 2026 Virginia Opera is back in Richmond with their final production of the 2025-26 season. It's the ever popular "Aida" by Giuseppe Verdi. "Forbidden love ignites between an Ethiopian princess and an Egyptian general as their nations clash...

March 12, 2026 Nick Broadway WAVY.com NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Through countless hours of practice and prep work, Virginia Opera got ready to show Aida. Then the COVID pandemic happened, shutting it down in March 2020. Six years later, they are finally bringing opening...

March 6, 2026 Coast Live WTKR.com NORFOLK, Va. — Singers Deborah Nansteel and Grant Youngblood join Coast Live to discuss Virginia Opera's production of "Aida," bringing the timeless Egyptian tragic romance to life with a stunning rendition of Verdi's grand spectacle....

CoastalVirginiaMag.com By Chelsea Sherman March 1, 2026 From a young age, new Virginia Opera director of development Jacquelyn VandenPlas was enthralled with music and the arts. “I’ve always been in love with music,” VandenPlas said. “When I was about 5 years old, my...

MDTheatreGuide.com Jeannette Mulherin February 20, 2026 During the past several decades, American opera has seen an outpouring of new works that blend eclectic musical styles with uniquely American themes. “Intelligence,” which premiered in 2023, is evidence that...

DCTheaterArts.org Bob Ashby February 18, 2026 The opera focuses on an enslaved woman and an anti-slavery white woman who collaborated in spying for the Union in Richmond during the Civil War. There is a historical nugget behind the plot and leading characters of...

PilotOnline.com Page Laws January 30, 2026 A white woman and a woman she enslaved joined forces to spy on the Confederate White House. It’s “I Spy” — the 1960s TV show about a Black spy partnered with a white one — but so much more historical, locally significant and...

RichmondFreePress.com Free Press Staff Report January 29, 2026 With Richmond’s Civil War past as its backdrop, a new opera brings the city’s hidden history of espionage to the forefront through music, storytelling and live performance. The Library of Virginia and...