LA Opera’s 2026–2027 season — the first for incoming music director Domingo Hindoyan — is notably heavy with popular favorites.
The company’s five mainstage productions will include Carmen, Turandot, and The Marriage of Figaro, as well as Verdi’s Old Testament drama Nabucco and Leonard Bernstein’s witty pastiche, Candide.
The company is clearly counting on Hindoyan’s charisma to generate some excitement despite the conservative programming. That charm may be limited by the fact that he is only conducting two of the five operas.
Hindoyan, who made his company debut conducting Roméo et Juliette in 2024, expressed enthusiasm for his new role in a statement released by the company.
“Los Angeles is a dynamic city that truly embraces new artistic perspectives, and I feel a strong connection to its creative energy,” Hindoyan wrote. “I also feel welcomed, not only as an artist, but as a person. That sense of welcome gives an artist the freedom to explore the full range of his artistic expression.”
Hindoyan will direct the opening production, Georges Bizet’s Carmen, from Oct. 17 through Nov. 7 in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The title role will be sung by Rihab Chaieb, who previously sang two major Mozart roles with the company: Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro and Dorabella in Così fan tutte.
This new staging of Carmen, a co-production of LA Opera and Houston Grand Opera, is set to be directed and designed by Thaddeus Strassberger. The company presented his well-received production of La clemenza di Tito in 2019.
Candide is slated to follow from Nov. 21 through Dec. 13, in a production directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados. Duke Kim, who sang Tony in the company’s popular 2025 production of West Side Story, will sing the title role. The Old Woman will be played by Broadway legend Patti LuPone.
Nabucco, like Carmen, is programmed to be directed and designed by Strassberger this season. Running from Feb. 27 through March 21, 2027, the production will feature Hindoyan on the podium and a cast led by Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar and Angela Meade.
Puccini’s Turandot follows from April 17 through May 9, 2027 with Ewa Plonka in the title role. Diego Matheuz will conduct the classic 1991 production, featuring sets by David Hockney.
Outgoing Music Director James Conlon, who will assume the role of Conductor Laureate, is set to conclude the season with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro from May 29 through June 20, 2027. The revival of James Gray’s production will feature Michael Sumuel as Figaro, Sydney Mancasola as Susanna, and Lucas Meachem as the Count.
The company is also set to present recitals by Jamie Barton on Nov. 15, Erin Morley and Lawrence Brownlee on April 22, 2027, and Sondra Radvanovsky on May 8, 2027, all at The Wallis in Beverly Hills. The Baroque ensemble Les Talens Lyriques will perform music by 17th-century Venetian masters Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli on March 2, 2027, in the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall.
LA Opera plans to present one new-ish work: Paola Prestini’s 2023 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novella The Old Man and the Sea. Originally commissioned by Arizona State University, it will be presented at The Wallis in Beverly Hills May 20–23, 2027, as part of LA Opera’s ongoing partnership with Beth Morrison Productions.
Season tickets are now available, starting at $164 for the five mainstage productions. Individual tickets will go on sale in June. For more information, visit LAOpera.org or call (213) 972-8001.
