Park City Opera expands into Eccles Center in its third season

Photo: Park City Opera

PARK CITY, Utah ­— Park City Opera (PCO)’s third summer of programming is its largest to date, featuring two fully-staged mainstage operas, one at Temple Har Shalom and one at the Eccles Center for Performing Arts in Park City, and a concert series comprising a total of 16 public events.

“From the beginning, our mission has been to make opera feel welcoming and alive,” says Lisl Wangermann, development director and co-founder. “Every venue we choose, every event we design, is built around that idea. We want people to walk in curious and leave moved.”

With the sold-out opera performances last year, PCO is daring to grasp even higher. They are moving their opera performances to two new venues, each with its own unique benefits and opportunities. Last year they used Temple Har Shalom for rehearsals. This year they will invite the public to see performances there. The performance at the Eccles Center for Performing Arts is totally new for PCO.

“Working in the Park City Eccles Center for the first time is a major step for Park City Opera,” said Benjamin Beckman, artistic director & co-founder of PCO. “Beyond the space’s high technical capacity – including fantastic lighting, projection, and scenic fly systems – I’m particularly looking forward to utilizing the theater’s substantial orchestra pit, which will enable us to work with an orchestra of over 40 players for our production of Roméo et Juliette.”

Wangermann added, “With Roméo et Juliette, we can push our creativity in a whole new way because the Eccles Center is the gold standard of theater spaces. I have had a lot of fun working with our set designer Audrey Tieman, dreaming big and imagining some unique visuals to accompany our 12 amazing principal singers and our biggest chorus yet.”

While PCO continues to experiment with new venues, they are bringing back Opera on the Patio for the third time. The free outdoor performance series will return to the Park City Library Patio three evenings this summer: July 1, July 8, and August 5, each from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Audiences are invited to bring a picnic, their family, and even their dogs for an evening of beloved arias and art songs set against the backdrop of a summer sunset. No tickets are required.

New this season in cooperation with Mountain Town Music is a free weekly outdoor concert series called “Opera Around the World” at The Bandstand at City Park in Park City. Every Monday evening, July 13–August 24 at 6:30 p.m., the public is invited to bring a picnic, gather their loved ones, and enjoy opera and vocal chamber music from a different part of the world.

Showcasing the extraordinary global range of the operatic and vocal tradition, traveling from the Americas to the Alps and beyond, each evening reflects the musical heritage of the featured region. All shows are performed by members of Park City Opera’s Artists Collective, an ensemble of local and visiting musicians who form the backbone of the company’s concert programming.

You do not need a ticket to attend these free concerts:

July 13 — America
July 20 — Italy
July 27 — Peru
August 3 — Austria & The Alps
August 10 — Great Britain
August 17 — France
August 24 — Grand Finale

To learn more about opera and opera history, attend a free lecture on Wednesday, July 29, from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Park City Museum’s Education and Collections Center.

Tickets for the performances at the Eccles Center, Temple Har Shalom, the Promontory Club’s outdoor amphitheater ‘The Shed’, and Park Meadows Country Club are now available at PCO’s website.