Celebrating the 400th anniversary of its founding by Spanish conquistadors and with a captivating blend of history, architecture, scenery and tradition,Santa Fe is the worthy backdrop for the USA’s premier summer opera festival. Guaranteed to provide quality and enjoyment for all who attend, the 2010 season offers three new productions, a world premiere and the revival of a critically-acclaimed Mozart favorite.

The theme of this year’s daytime program recognizes The City Different’s special anniversary and will introduce the group to aspects of the city’s history and contemporary life that may have remained undiscovered on previous visits. After a three year hiatus we are returning to the Inn & Spa at Loretto, widely acknowledged as one of the leading luxury hotels in the historic center.

Sunday August 8 Early arrivals
Independent early arrivals at the Inn & Spa at Loretto. Annie Sale will be at the hotel from 5.00–7.00pm for orientation and a welcome drink in the hotel’s Living Room.

Monday August 9
Independent arrivals and check in at The Inn & Spa at Loretto. Meet Annie in the lobby at 5.15pm to walk to nearby Amavi Restaurant for our a welcome dinner. Private transfer to The Santa Fe Opera and Madame Butterfly.

Tuesday August 10
Guided driving and walking tour of “What’s New in The City Different” led by Stefanie Beninato. Stefanie takes us through an historical perspective in this, Santa Fe’s 400th year, followed by a look at recent developments and events that shape the city. We break for refreshments before arriving at The St Francis Auditorium and the noon Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Piano Recital. The afternoon and early evening is at leisure. Later we gather in the lobby and transfer to The Magic Flute.

Wednesday August 11
A visit to former home of poet Witter Bynner has been arranged where the owner, Robert Frost will talk about D.H. Lawrence, Frieda, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Dorothy Brett, Spud Johnson and friends in New Mexico. Now the Inn of the Turquoise Bear, this was the Santa Fe gathering place for the literary set at the time and other notables such as Stravinsky. Refreshments will be included. Afterwards we drive to the Santa Fe Opera for a private backstage tour and short talk by a senior staff member or you may choose to stop off near the plaza or hotel. The afternoon is free until transferring to the Cantina Pavilion and a pre performance buffet dinner featuring Desirée Mays’ talk on this evening’s production of The Tales of Hoffmann.

Thursday August 12
Today we start with Desirée’s lecture on Life is Dream and Albert Herring. After a short break, the party will drive to the first of two important Santa Fe institutions. At the Santa Fe Art Institute, we will be greeted by Executive Director, Diane Karp, meet artists in residence, tour the exhibitions and enjoy the remarkable architecture of this facility. Next we will visit the renowned Santa Fe Institute, set in a splendid location, where national and international experts gather to further their research.

You will have independent time from about 2.00pm until evening when we meet to transfer to The Santa Fe Opera’s world premiere performance of Life is Dream.

Friday August 13
This morning is independent for museum visits, Canyon Road gallery hopping, shopping or spa treatments. Act 1 and the hotel concierge will be on hand to assist with any last minute arrangements and requests. We meet again for our traditional Act 1 luncheon at Santacafé and this evening we gather for a pre-performance reception at the Inn & Spa at Loretto before departing for the final performance of the week, Albert Herring.

Saturday August 14
Independent departures or extension.

The season opens with a new production of Madame Butterfly, perhaps the most beloved of all operas, which has not been staged here in more than ten years. Conductor - Antony Walker, Director - Lee Blakeley. Cio-Cio-San, Madame Butterfly - Kelly Kaduce, Suzuki - Elizabeth DeShong, B. F. Pinkerton - Brandon Jovanovich, Sharpless - James Westman, Goro - Keith Jameson, The Bonze - Harold Wilson.

The powers of music and of love unite to triumph over evil in The Magic Flute, Mozart’s ultimate opera. Director Tim Albery’s production was a sold-out sensation in 2006 and it returns under conductor Lawrence Renes to cast its radiant harmonies over Santa Fe audiences. Pamina - Ekaterina Siurina, Tamino - Charles Castronovo, Queen of the Night - Erin Morley, Monostatos - Timothy Oliver, Papageno - Joshua Hopkins, Sarastro - Andreas Silvestrelli, Speaker - Dale Travis.

The Tales of Hoffmann is Offenbach’s glorious final masterpiece and it has never before been seen in Santa Fe. Conductor - Stephen Lord, Director - Christopher Alden. Antonia/Stella/Giulietta/ Olymp - Erin Wall, Nicklausse - Kate Lindsey, Voice of Antonia’s Mother - Jill Grove, Hoffmann - Paul Groves, Spalanzanni - Anthony Laciura, Pittichinaccio/Andres/Cochenil - David Cangelosi, Dr. Miracle/Dapertutto - Gidon Saks, Crespel/Luther - Harold Wilson.

Life is a Dream will be The Santa Fe Opera’s newest world premiere. Based on a towering masterpiece from “The Golden Age of Spanish Drama,” the opera by Lewis Spratlan explores provocative questions about the nature of perceptions and reality—and won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Conductor - Leonard Slatkin, Director - Kevin Newbury. King Basilio - John Cheek, Segismundo - Roger Honeywell, Clotaldo - James Maddalena, Rosaura - Ellie Dehn.

Albert Herring proved that Benjamin Britten could create comedies that were just as successful as his dramatic masterworks such as Peter Grimes and Billy Budd. A turn-of-the-last-century English village is shocked to discover that chaste young women are in perilously short supply, so bashful Albert is crowned “King of the May Festival,” only to launch a night of revelry that leaves his elders aghast and his chums impressed. Conductor - Sir Andrew Davis, Director - Paul Curran. Lady Billows - Christine Brewer, Miss Wordsworth - Celena Shafer Florence, Pike - Jill Grove, Nancy - Kate Lindsey, Mrs. Herring - Judith Christin, Albert Herring - Alek Shrader, Mayor - Anthony Laciura, Sid - Joshua Hopkins, Vicar - Wayne Tigges, Budd - Dale Travis.

The Santa Fe Art Institute explores the interconnections of contemporary art and society through artists and writer residencies, public lectures and workshops, exhibitions and educational outreach. In 1999, the Institute moved to its extraordinary facility, designed by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta. By bringing together prominent individuals and institutions in the arts, sciences, and humanities, SFAI enlivens local, national, and international discourse. Nurturing artists and providing a stimulating, creative atmosphere for their work serves society in an essential way and gives artists the support necessary to take risks and explore possibilities.

The Santa Fe Institute is an independent research institute that was founded 25 years ago to expand the boundaries of scientific understanding through multi-disciplinary or trans-disciplinary research. Its objectives are to discover and understand the common fundamental principals in the physical, computational and social sciences that underlie may of the most profound issues facing science and society today. Examples include research into the stability of financial markets, sustainability and climate change, conflict and terrorism and epidemics. We study complex systems, or those that exhibit the ability to adapt as they evolve and this work can be applied to human, technological or artistic models.