Seattle Opera

We've received an outpouring of love and affection for former General Director Speight Jenkins these past few weeks, from audience members, former employees and board members, and artists who he left a lasting impact on.

The family of Speight Jenkins would like to invite the public to the funeral on July 11 at 10:30 AM at St. James Cathedral.

All who wish to attend are welcome.

Join us on July 5 for the first ever classical music festival at Seattle Center! Presented by Classical KING FM 98.1 and Seattle Center, this free one-day festival celebrates the power of classical music and vocal performance in the Pacific Northwest.

Seattle Opera artists Alexa Jarvis, Tess Altiveros, Martin Bakari, and Ilya Silchukou will perform selections from La bohème, The Pirates of Penzance, and Die Fledermaus starting at 4:00 on the International Fountain Lawn. Plus, see performances from Seattle Chamber Music Society, Seattle Symphony, and more throughout the day!

And be sure to stay to the end for a sing-along with Market Street Singers and Seattle Peace Chorus leading a group performance of Dona Nobis Pacem and How Can I Keep From Singing.

Schedule of events:
12:00 PM – Opening of Seattle Center Classical and Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra
1:00 PM – Seattle Chamber Music Society
2:00 PM – Early Music Seattle
3:00 PM – Seattle Chamber Music Society
4:00 PM – Seattle Opera
5:00 PM – Seattle Symphony
5:30 PM – Community Group Sing-Along led by the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium and Farewell from Classical KING

Presented by Classical KING and Seattle Center. The Concert Truck is made possible by Seattle Chamber Music Society.

For event details and to register for the sing-along, visit https://classicalking.org/seattlecenterclassical?utm_source=SeattleOpera

How did one question lead to a research trip to the Philippines in search of music?

During the pandemic, we asked soprano Tess Altiveros if she might record a piece from her Filipino heritage for AAPI month.

"The request landed a little heavily for me," she says, "because the truth was that—as a mixed kid whose Filipino grandparents worked so hard to assimilate their children into American culture—I wasn’t familiar with much of their Filipino culture."

While she remembers her grandmother singing arias from Puccini and Verdi, she didn't know of any Filipino songs her grandmother might have known or loved.

"I felt that sting so many mixed kids might be familiar with: that feeling of being caught in the in-between, neither white nor Filipino enough to lay claim to one identity or the other. I wanted to live in a reality where Seattle Opera could approach me and ask for a Filipino song and I could reply: Yes. I do know songs from my own heritage."

So, she asked one question: Are there Filipino art songs and arias written for classically trained singers? With a fellowship from the Seattle University Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture, and later, grants from the City of Bothell and 4Culture, she headed to the Philippines to search archives and universities, and quickly found the answer.

"It turns out, not only has the Philippines produced a plethora of gorgeous vocal repertoire, but much of it is widely known and loved there, and is already being performed on a regular basis by (primarily) Filipino singers around the world."

Tess brought some of this plethora back with her and presented her recital, "Singing the Archipelago: Art Song and Opera from the Philippines," to a sold out audience in Tagney Jones Hall this past weekend.

"My heart’s wish is that this repertoire be widely known and loved…and SUNG…by everyone. That singers and voice teachers and audiences someday hold as firm a place in their hearts and programs for the Filipino kundiman as they do for German lieder and French Chansons."

Tess will present the recital again in Juneau, AK. Follow her at Tess Altiveros, soprano for future date announcements.

We're excited to announce the return of our new-works incubator program, the Jane Lang Davis Creation Lab.

Composer Laura Kaminsky and librettist Deborah Brevoort have been named Creative Directors of the program, and will redesign the curriculum to mentor emerging composers and librettists looking to tell innovative stories as opera.

Over the course of an 18-month program, three composer-librettist teams will learn the craft of collaborative writing for the opera stage and develop 20-minute new works with support from professional composers and librettists, culminating in a presentation at the Opera Center in March 2028.

We welcome composers, songwriters, librettists, lyricists, playwrights, and poets of all genres who reside in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho and are at least 18 years of age to apply.

Applications are due August 2, 2026. Learn more about the program and application requirements at seattleopera.org/about/creation-lab/creation-lab-application-information/

We're touched by the outpouring of love and condolences for former General Director Speight Jenkins. We've received hundreds of stories, memories, and reflections on his life and the legacy he left us with, not only here at Seattle Opera but in the field of opera as a whole.

From his colleagues who looked to him for advice, to the artists he nurtured early in their careers, to audience members he inspired with his endless passion, you can read the full stories on our blog at seattleoperablog.com/2026/06/tributes-to-speight-jenkins.html

Photo credits:
1. Speight Jenkins' retirement celebration, 2014, by Rozarii Lynch.
2. Tristan and Isolde rehearsal, 2010, by Seattle Opera.
3. Speight Jenkins, by Rick Dahms.
4. Lawrence Brownlee and Speight Jenkins, 2011, by Rozarii Lynch.
5. Stephen Wadsworth and Speight Jenkins with the animatronic swan from Lohengrin, 1994, by Seattle Opera.
6. Speight Jenkins and Linda Brovsky, 2012, by Seattle Opera.
7. Speight Jenkins and Kelly Tweeddale in McCaw Hall, by Seattle Opera.
8. Speight Jenkins greeting a patron in McCaw Hall, 2013, by Alan Alabastro.
9. Jane Eaglen, Speight Jenkins, Francesca Zambello, and Ben Heppner, Tristan and Isolde, 1998, by Gary Smith.
10. Speight Jenkins with the cast of The Tales of Hoffman, 2014, by Rozarii Lynch.

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of former Seattle Opera General Director, Speight Jenkins.

Speight began his tenure in 1983, transforming Seattle Opera into one of the leading US opera companies during his 31 years as General Director, until 2014.

A passionate, precise, and persistent leader, Speight was an icon in the Pacific Northwest and held in the highest esteem across the opera industry. Under his watch, Seattle Opera grew into one of the largest and most respected opera companies in the United States, recognized worldwide for its ambitious programming, its nurturing environment for young artists, and its vital presentations of Wagner’s four-opera epic, Der Ring des Nibelungen.

“As we mourn the loss of Seattle Opera’s former General Director, we also celebrate the extraordinary impacts he made on the world of opera and the greater arts scene in the Pacific Northwest,” says General & Artistic Director, James Robinson. “Speight was a force, a true impresario who launched countless careers over the years... [he] was exacting, demanding, and utterly committed to excellence. He remains an inspiration to so many of us who now lead opera companies in the US.”

A staunch believer that even the grandest operas should be for the people, he helped usher in a new era of audience accessibility with practices we now consider standard, like translated supertitles (making Seattle Opera one of the first US companies to use this technology) and post-show talkbacks.

In 2006, he was named one of the 25 “most powerful” names in American Opera by Opera News, and upon his retirement the city and county proclaimed August 9, 2014, Speight Jenkins Day, naming a street in his honor.

We extend our most heartfelt condolences to his family and all those who knew him. In the coming days we'll be collecting and sharing memories from the many people he impacted in the opera world. If you have stories or photos you'd like to contribute, leave a comment or send them via DM/email.

Read the full announcement with tributes from artists and colleagues at seattleopera.org/speightjenkins

Photo 1 by Rick Dahms.

Thanks to everyone who brought donations to the YouthCare supply drive during the run of Carmen, we were able to donate an entire cart of pantry staples, household supplies, and other necessities to Isis House, a residential home with programming focused on LGBTQ+ youth ages 18–21.

Isis, which stands for Independence, Security, Initiative, and Success, opened in 1998 as the first housing program in Washington to focus on the unique needs of LGBTQ+ youth. During their time at Isis, young people build community and work with their case manager to get connected to school and employment, and transition to permanent housing.

Thank you to everyone who donated! Stay tuned for details on our next supply drive during the run of Salome.

We're excited to announce that soprano Amanda Batista will be joining the cast of El último sueño de Frida y Diego as Catrina, the powerful Keeper of the Dead in the underworld of Mictlán.

In her 2025-26 season, Batista sang the roles of Helen in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier at the Metropolitan Opera, and Nedda in Pagliacci at Minnesota Opera. She also covered the role of Catrina at Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as Musetta in the iconic Franco Zeffirelli production of La bohème at the Metropolitan Opera.

Please join us in welcoming Amanda to the cast of this vibrant production by composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz, opening in January of next year.

Photo by Dario Acosta.

Thanks to everyone who came out for a fun and furry night at Carmen with our very own Escamillo () as his fursona,
 
Over 60 members of the furry community joined us for Furry Night at Carmen, which included a meet & greet with Chester in costume as Escamillo, and even an impromptu bullfight! 
 
summed up the evening perfectly: 
 
“Opera has a reputation for being a stuffy, upper-class art form, something exclusive, intimidating, and maybe not entirely meant for me. But just as my assumptions about the furry community turned out to be lazy and incomplete, so too were my assumptions about the opera. Furry Night at the Opera reminded me that both are, at their best, invitations: spaces built around passion, community, and the simple joy of sharing an experience with others. Art, it turns out, is for everyone.”