When OA’s Ambassador Circle, a dedicated group of opera lovers, traveled to Spain this past fall, they expected to take part in an occasion of historic importance: the concert performance of La favorite that marked the 200th anniversary of Madrid’s Teatro Real. What they didn’t know is that in the Barcelona leg of their trip, they’d encounter another piece of history: the Catalan declaration of independence on October 27 that spurred rallies across the city. While exploring the region’s museums, architectural gems and restaurants, Ambassadors also attended Carmen at the Real and, at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Piotr Beczala and Dolora Zajick in Un ballo in maschera: a work that echoed the political drama unfolding in the streets.

Ambassadors and trustees from around the country will come together again this summer for a trip to Bavaria, visiting the Munich Opera Festival to see Jonas Kaufmann and Nina Stemme in Parsifal and Diana Damrau in La traviata, as well as productions of From the House of the Dead and Haydn’s Orlando Paladino. They’ll continue to the Bayreuth Festival for performances of Der fliegende Holländer and Lohengrin, the latter in a production by Yuval Sharon (director of The Industry, 2017 MacArthur Fellow and OA board member), who becomes the first American to direct at Bayreuth. The group will also tour Wahnfried, Wagner’s recently restored villa.