Hampton Roads, Richmond, Fairfax, VA (Sep. 17, 2025) – Virginia Opera is proud to announce complete casting for its 2025–2026 Season, featuring Cinderella (La Cenerentola), the Commonwealth premiere of Intelligence, and Aida. The season brings beloved classics and compelling new works to life with acclaimed artists, exciting debuts, and returning audience favorites under the baton of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Adam Turner.
“This season truly has something for everyone – the sonic splendor, spectacle, and high-stakes drama of grand opera, an enchanting family-friendly fairytale comedy, and a captivating brand-new addition to the American operatic canon,” said Adam Turner, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Virginia Opera. “Audiences will experience world-class artistry, powerful storytelling, and the thrill of live opera at its best.”
Cinderella (La Cenerentola)
Gioachino Rossini
Performances conducted by Adam Turner (Norfolk and Richmond) and Brandon Eldredge (Fairfax)
Directed by David Lefkowich
The season opens with Rossini’s sparkling retelling of the Cinderella story. Mezzo-soprano Lisa Marie Rogali stars as Angelina (Cinderella) following her acclaimed Virginia Opera debut last season in the titular role of Carmen. Critics hailed her performance as “a not-to-be-missed, bang-up performance” (The Virginian-Pilot) and her voice as “a beautiful instrument, lovely lows that can soar thrillingly” (OperaGene).
Tenor David Walton returns to Virginia Opera, reprising his 2019–2020 role as Prince Ramiro. DC Theater Arts praised his earlier performance: “Walton provided graceful vocal lines… his Ramiro is a genuinely nice guy, unpretentious, lacking in arrogance, who sees the hearts of people rather than their surfaces.”
Joining the cast is former Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist baritone Patrick Wilhelm as Dandini, following his recent mainstage debuts as Masetto (Don Giovanni) and Le Dancaïre (Carmen). Baritone Levi Hernandez returns to perform the role of Don Magnifico, having last appeared with Virginia Opera as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (2011, 2019).
Making his Virginia Opera debut is bass Isaiah Musik-Ayala as Alidoro. His voice has been described by The New York Times as “burly and resonant” and by San Francisco Classical Voice as “commanding and compelling.” Current Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists Maggie Kinabrew and Melanie Dubil complete the cast as the stepsisters Clorinda and Tisbe.
Stage direction will be by David Lefkowich, praised as “high-energy… with a firehose of ideas about making opera more popular and accessible” (Minneapolis Star Tribune).
Intelligence
Conceived by Jake Heggie, Gene Scheer, Jawole Zollar
Music by Jake Heggie, Libretto by Gene Scheer
Performances conducted by Adam Turner (Norfolk and Richmond) and Brandon Eldredge (Fairfax)
Directed by Kyle Lang
Next, Virginia Opera presents the Commonwealth premiere of Intelligence, a riveting new work originally commissioned by Houston Grand Opera and given its world premiere in 2023. This marks only the second production of the opera, now in a brand-new production spearheaded by director Kyle Lang with an inventive scenic design by Steven Kemp. Inspired by the extraordinary Civil War-era true stories of Mary Jane Bowser, an enslaved woman turned Union spy, and her collaborator from a prominent Confederate family, Elizabeth Van Lew of Richmond, this profoundly moving and captivating work tells the little-known story of two incredible women who joined forces in a secret pro-Union spy ring.
Making her Virginia Opera debut, soprano Jacqueline Echols stars as Mary Jane Bowser. Echols, who has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, and Washington National Opera, among others, has been praised for her “dynamic range and vocal acrobatics” (Classical Voice). Mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, a Grand Finals Winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a former Adler Fellow with San Francisco Opera, debuts as Elizabeth Van Lew having participated in workshops leading up to the opera’s world premiere. An acclaimed graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd joins for her Virginia Opera debut as Lucinda.
Other mainstage debuts include bass-baritone Craig Irvin (Travis Briggs), bass Kevin Thompson (Henry), and tenor Edward Graves (Wilson). Soprano Maureen McKay, who made her Virginia Opera debut as Rose Maurrant in Street Scene (2018), joins as Callie Van Lew.
Audience-favorite director Kyle Lang returns to Virginia Opera, marking a decade of collaboration with credits including La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, The Marriage of Figaro, The Pirates of Penzance, and most recently Don Giovanni and Carmen.
Aida
Giuseppe Verdi
Performances conducted by Adam Turner (Norfolk and Richmond)
Director to be announced soon
The season concludes with Verdi’s grand opera Aida, featuring an internationally renowned cast.
Soprano Indira Mahajan brings her celebrated portrayal of Aida to Virginia Opera. Praised for her “strongly centered, richly textured soprano,” by New York Magazine and her “poignant soprano” for her moving portrayals by the New York Times, the versatile soprano has distinguished herself as a celebrated artist in her field. As a recipient of the prestigious Marian Anderson Award, Mahajan has joined the ranks of notable opera singers such as Denyce Graves, Angel Blue, and Lawrence Brownlee.
Tenor Jonathan Burton returns as Radamès, following his recent appearance as Lt. B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (2024). In his performance of Radamès he has been praised for his “powerful tenor with lyrical grace” and “generous and expansive bursts of glory” (Nino Pantano).
Debuting with Virginia Opera, mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel takes on Amneris. The New York Times described her 2018 Metropolitan Opera performance in Lucia di Lammermoor as marked by a “decorous presence and an emotive vibrato.” Baritone Grant Youngblood, an audience-favorite and frequent presence with Virginia Opera since 1997, returns as Amonasro. Bass Ricardo Lugo, known to Virginia Opera audiences for roles in Turandot, Das Rheingold, La Bohème, The Valkyrie, Siegfried, and Don Giovanni, returns to sing the role of Ramfis.
Bass Sergio Martinez makes his debut as the King of Egypt, while current Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists soprano Maggie Kinabrew (Priestess) and tenor Daniel Esteban Lugo (Messenger) round out the cast.
“As we move into the future from last season’s thrilling 50th anniversary, Virginia Opera continues its tradition of bringing world-class opera to the Mid-Atlantic region while championing new American voices,” said Adam Turner, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. “Whether you’re joining us for the very first time or for your 51st subscription series, we are confident you’ll be thoroughly entertained and engaged by a sensational season of artistic excellence and breathtaking performances.”
Virginia Opera’s 2025-2026 Season opens in November 2025. For tickets and more information, visit vaopera.org.
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About Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera, the official opera company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, is one of the finest regional opera companies in the nation and is the only company to perform regularly in three separate main stage venues: the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, the Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center in Richmond, and the Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax. Organized in 1974, Virginia Opera is respected nationwide for the identification and presentation of the finest young artists, for the musical and dramatic integrity of its productions, and for the ingenuity and variety of its education and outreach programs.
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