Hampton Roads, Richmond, Fairfax, VA (Feb. 17, 2026) – Virginia Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi’s monumental masterpiece Aida, returning to the company’s mainstage after more than a decade—and following its long-awaited revival after the production’s cancellation in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Renowned for its sweeping choruses, intimate emotional power, and unforgettable arias, Aida will be presented as a blend of traditional staging enhanced by modern technical design conducted by Artistic Director and Chief Conductor Adam Turner.
Aida holds a unique place in Virginia Opera’s history. The company first produced the beloved opera to open its 2011-2012 Season, and it was scheduled to return in March 2020 before the pandemic forced a cancellation just one week before opening. This spring’s performances mark a long-anticipated homecoming for one of opera’s most enduring works.
“Verdi’s Aida represents one of the pinnacles of all opera—celebrated for its grandeur and spectacle, but even more so for its overwhelming vocal power and orchestral splendor,” said Turner. “It’s especially exciting and meaningful to be able to re-mount this monumental work following the heartbreaking cancellation during the early days of COVID. It’s a privilege for all of us at Virginia Opera to bring back Aida and provide audiences an artistic highlight of the season.”
The production is directed by Joachim Schamberger, who also serves as Set and Projection Designer. Schamberger previously collaborated with Virginia Opera as Stage Director and Projection Designer for Wagner’s The Valkyrie (2022) and Siegfried (2023). While Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” operas were performed with a more modern symbolic exploration, Verdi’s Aida will be presented in a traditional fashion, blending traditional staging with modern technology in a universally compelling way.
The cast is led by soprano Indira Mahajan in the title role of Aida. Mahajan previously appeared with Virginia Opera in The Marriage of Figaro (1999) and Don Giovanni (2001) and has been praised as a “strongly centered, richly textured soprano.” Of her portrayal of Aida with Dayton Opera, critics wrote, “Mahajan’s ‘O patria mia’ was a most riveting rendition of this reverie for her beautiful country…the heartbreaking line ‘mai più’ resonated into every ear and heart.”
Tenor Jonathan Burton sings the role of Radamès, returning to Virginia Opera after his acclaimed performance as Pinkerton in the company’s 2024 production of Madama Butterfly. Reviewing his Radamès with Sarasota Opera, critics noted that Burton “showed his heroic bona fides… tackling ‘Celeste Aida’—one of the most tortuous arias in the repertoire—with clarion tone, easy projection, and ringing top notes.”
Mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel makes her Virginia Opera mainstage debut as Amneris. Nansteel has previously performed the role with Opera Grand Rapids and Finger Lakes Opera, bringing depth and dramatic intensity to the conflicted Egyptian princess.
Bass Ricardo Lugo returns to Virginia Opera as Ramfis, having appeared in Turandot (2017), Das Rheingold and La Bohème (2021), The Valkyrie (2022), Siegfried (2023), and Don Giovanni (2024). Of his earlier performances, The Virginian-Pilot wrote, “Ricardo Lugo’s huge bass perfectly fits Timur, the blind, banished king of Tartary.”
Bass Sergio Martinez makes his Virginia Opera mainstage debut as the King. OnStage Pittsburgh praised Martinez for a voice of “cavernous resonance and carrying power.”
Rounding out the cast are current Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists Maggie Kinabrew as the Priestess and Daniel Esteban Lugo as the Messenger.
Aida opens at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk on March 13, with an additional performance on March 15, before moving to the Dominion Energy Center in Richmond on March 20 and 22. The Richmond Symphony provides the orchestra for this production.
Tickets and additional information are available at vaopera.org.
For press inquiries, please contact:
Amanda Ivy
Director of Marketing, Virginia Opera
757-213-4547 · Amanda.ivy@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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