German Premier

Inga Schäfer as Offred
Tickets Available at Theater Freiburg

Based on Margaret Atwood's successful dystopian novel THE HANDMAID'S TALE, the 1998 opera by Danish composer Poul Ruders tells the story of the maid Offred in the fictional, strictly patriarchal, Christian fundamentalist theocracy of Gilead.

In this military dictatorship, women are largely without rights. Many are enslaved and abused as handmaids to bear children to the ruling class of commanders and their infertile wives. The explosive material was filmed by Volker Schlöndorff and in a very successful series from 2017. The impressive opera is now being staged as a German premiere in Freiburg.

West Coast Premiere

San Francisco Opera
Irene Roberts as Offred
Karen Kamansek, Conductor
John Fulljames, Director

Run Time 2 hours 50 minutes with one intermission
Tickets available at the San Francisco Opera

In a dystopian future, women are forced into childbearing servitude by an extremist theocratic regime. Escape is nearly impossible—but Offred, a handmaid, is determined to find a way back to her child, no matter the cost. Based on the landmark novel by Margaret Atwood, this intense operatic drama gives voice to a terrifying, fictional world that is becoming increasingly prescient.

Poul Ruders’ evocative score creates one of the most impactful operas of the late twentieth century, seen for the first time on the West Coast in a powerful new co-production with The Royal Danish Opera.

World Premiere

Peter Navarro-Alonso, Organ soloist

Location site: vorfrelserskirke.dk
Ticket link and additional details coming soon

World Premiere

Performance by the Odense Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Christopher Lichtenstein

Tickets Available at Odense Symfoni

Again this year, we invite our audience to experience first performances from four centuries. It is a completely unique way of experiencing the music and its history, where each piece can be heard as new, and where the Odense Symphony Orchestra shows the breadth of their musical reach. Impressive baroque overtures by Handel, a classical symphony by Mendelssohn – the lesser-known 1st Symphony – a cornucopia of orchestral sound by Richard Strauss from the 20th century and a premiere performance by the world-famous Danish composer Poul Ruders.