Park City Opera’s third summer season begins in July and is the nonprofit’s most ambitious yet.
Lisl Wangermann, Lena Goldstein and Benjamin Beckman started Park City Opera two years ago with a summer series of outdoor concerts. Wangermann said the trio wanted to put on a mainstage production, but didn’t have the capacity.
Just a year later, the nonprofit hosted “The Barber of Seville” in August 2025, which sold out.
“When we started in 2024, we had these goals and these dreams,” Wangermann said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” May 22. “I don't think we realized how quickly we would be able to achieve those, and so we're really excited for all the things that this third summer season holds.”
New this season, the nonprofit will put on two mainstage productions and host a free outdoor concert series.
Called “Opera Around the World,” the seven-week outdoor concert series is designed to showcase opera from different regions across the globe. The series begins July 13 with American opera and continues every Monday. The performances are at Park City’s City Park.
Wangermann said it’s an opportunity to get a taste of opera.
“You can just show up and come for 30 minutes, come for the whole hour, or just swing by and say hi to your neighbors,” she said. “We think that it's just a really great casual way to interact and to experience classical music.”
Aaron Copland’s “The Tender Land” is the first mainstage production coming up this summer on July 18 and 19.
Wangermann said it’s an oft-overlooked opera set in a Midwestern farm town during the Great Depression. It follows Laurie, who is on the brink of graduating high school and unsure of her place in the world.
The production purposefully coincides with America’s 250th birthday this year.
“American opera is not often produced, or people have a feeling that there's not that much great American opera, and we really hope that this production shows that there are really, really amazing pieces in the repertoire,” Wangermann said.
The second mainstage production, Roméo et Juliette, is coming up on Aug. 21 and 23.
Wangermann said the show will have 12 principal singers, a chorus, an orchestra and dancers from Ballet West. It’s the first time Park City Opera has collaborated with the ballet company.
“Opera and ballet have such an intertwined history, and there are a lot of operas that are just impossible to do without the added element of dance,” Wangermann said. “When we decided to do Romeo and Juliet this summer, we were looking for people to collaborate with us in this realm, and we are so excited that Ballet West was interested.”
Wangermann said the nonprofit will also host three “Opera on the Patio” performances on the Park City Library patio.
