Angel Blue, who opened the Metropolitan Opera’s current season as Bess in Porgy and Bess, will head to the West Coast this fall to kick off Los Angeles Opera’s 2020–2021 lineup. The soprano will sing Leonora in the company’s production of Il Trovatore.

Performances, under the baton of conductor James Conlon, will begin September 26 with a cast that also includes Gregory Kunde in his company debut as Manrico, Vladimir Stoyanov as Count di Luna, Morris Robinson as Ferrando, and Ekaterina Semenchuk and Raehann Bryce-Davis as Azucena. Francisco Negrin’s staging will play through October 18.

The new season will also offer the company premiere of Breaking the Waves by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek. James Darrah’s production, conducted by Grant Gershon, will run February 27–March 21, 2021, with a cast featuring Sydney Mancasola, Alexander Birch Elliott, Melody Moore, and Frederick Ballentine.

2021 will also mark L.A. Opera’s first Aida since 2005, with Francesca Zambello’s staging running May 15–June 5. Liudmyla Monastyrska will sing the title role, joined by Gregory Kunde as Ramades and Semenchuk as Amneris.

Additional company highlights include Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Serena Malfi in La Cenerentola, and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo in the title role of Don Giovanni. Additional season events include one-night-only concert presentations of Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light (starring Renée Fleming as Georgia O’Keefe) and Handel’s Tamerlano, as well a live-scored screening of Get Out featuring the L.A. Opera Orchestra and the DC6 Singers.

L.A. Opera's 2019–2020 season enters its second half on the heels of Plácido Domingo resigning from his post as general director following a series of sexual harassment allegations and subsequent investigations. The world premiere of Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice will begin February 1 with Danielle de Niese in the title role.