Opera in the Ozarks Will Return in 2021

Opera in the Ozarks will not return until 2021. According to Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, General Director Nancy Preis said that the company had to cancel its summer 2020 season due to the health crisis.

"I had a Zoom call with all the singers around the first of April," she said. "It was very interesting. One girl said she was scared to death because she's immune compromised. Another lives in Canada and simply couldn't come. Several said their moms were really worried."

However, Preis said that the students are all invited to return next summer, when the 70th season will be performed just as it would have been this year, with a season that includes "The Crucible," a Pulitzer Prize-winning English language opera written by Robert Ward based on the 1953 play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller; "Lucia di Lammermoor," written in 1835 and loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel "The Bride of Lammermoor"; and "Cendrillon," a French version of "Cinderella."

In the meantime, Preis is considering having the performers visit schools.

"We'll have a whole bunch of stressed-out kids, so how can we help with music?" she said.

She is also planning to start an adult education program this fall to help build the ideas of diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Read more on Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.