​ Fly to Atlanta Georgia in Southeastern USA to see opera?

​People outside the opera world might scoff at that notion.But Tomer Zvulun —Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera which was recently named one of the top ten opera companies in the USA— knows this is not implausible.Indeed, it's already happened!

(Pictured above-- Tomer Zvulun, Artistic Director of The Atlantic Opera, photo: Orel Cohen)

For starts, Zvulun, who champions his adopted home city with passion, would remind Europeans and especially the many devout Wagner fans on that side of the Atlantic that there are direct flights to Atlanta from just about every city in the world.He thinks of Atlanta as a city surrounded by parks, a foodie haven with restaurants galore, and the home to many global companies that draw in a cosmopolitan workforce hungry for culture, opera included.

Last spring it was Das Rheingold; this year on April 27 The Atlanta Opera is presenting its first ever Die Walküre.Next year, The Atlanta Opera plans to produce Siegfried, the third in the four opera Ring Cycle.

​The Atlanta Opera has two calling cards that are helping spread its reputation and regard.One is the impact of their free online streaming of every production kept up even during the pandemic shutdown.Zvulun has been the force to make this happen, with an eye to broadening the audience for not only The Atlanta Opera but the opera genre as a whole.

The streaming productions available on-demand also give the talents in their productions greater global reach.One imagines it's quite the magnet for up and coming opera performers. Then—as Zvulun comments was recently the case when soprano Gabriella Reyes sang the role of Mimi in La Bohème— The Atlanta Opera does more than just take note of stellar performances. The company is nimble enough to build entire seasons around the powerhouse performers they discover can command the large Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre that is The Atlanta Opera's main performance venue.

You too might feel that the more cinematic approach to stagecraft is another Atlanta Opera forte.The company makes ample use of lighting effects and projection design tightly integrated with the physical set. The team behind this work—Erhard Rom and Robert Wierzel — in both the last and this next Ring production will be joined by costume designer Mattie Ulrich (winner of the European Opera Prize) and live-action designer Ran Arthur Braun (winner of the Opernwelt Award).

Photos  by Ken Howard, courtesy of The Atlanta Opera unless otherwise indicated.

Top left - Tenor Long Long with soprano Gabriella Reyes in The Atlanta Opera production of La Bohème

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center - photo by J. Grover, Atlanta, Georgia.

Production photos of The Atlanta Opera 2023 production of Das Rheingold

Headshot of bass baritone Greer Grimsley, who performed the role of Wotan in 2023 and reprises the role in the upcoming production of Die Walkure.

Useful links

​Visit The Atlanta Opera website for more information.

For more background,also see—

Tomer Zvulun, Atlanta Opera's Artistic Director Interview — Opera and Atlanta Champion, Both

Atlanta Opera Presents LA BOHEME Review — Love in the Time of TB