Rising Waters / Rising Voices
An Opera Initiative for Climate Awareness
Opera has a unique ability to foster connection, inspire empathy, and spark reflection. Rising Waters / Rising Voices is a new community-wide initiative that invites you to join the conversation on climate change through the transformative experience of opera. This spring, BLO presents The Seasons and Noah’s Flood – two powerful works that explore the challenges of climate change in tandem with community resilience. Initiating long-term change from within the company, BLO is also partnering with the Green Ribbon Commission to enact a Climate Action Plan that will guide the use of our resources going forward. Supported by additional public programming with partners across the city, BLO seeks to inspire meaningful action toward a more sustainable future through a lens of beauty and possibility.
Featuring lush and world-famous music from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons paired with a new English libretto by celebrated American playwright Sarah Ruhl, this world-premiere opera will take audiences on an unforgettable journey exploring climate change and the forces of nature, both within us and in the world around us.
Music by Antonio Vivaldi (The Four Seasons with additional vocal music)
New English text by Sarah Ruhl
Co-conceived with Anthony Roth Costanzo
In collaboration with Pam Tanowitz and Zack Winokur
Produced by Boston Lyric Opera, AMOC*, and Scene
Originally commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera
Co-presented by ArtsEmerson and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
With Boston Lyric Opera artists & musicians
A group of contemporary artists comes to a retreat in nature to make their art. They feel the emotional weather inside of them more than they feel the weather outside of them. But extreme weather impacts them without warning and changes their lives forever. The Seasons is a meditation on the relationship between our contemporary moment and Vivaldi’s iconic music, which appreciated the harmonious seasons. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, paired with additional arias and ensembles by the composer, becomes an occasion for seeing our own disordered seasons more clearly.
“This is the kind of experience kids carry with them for the rest of their lives, and it’s wonderful to see BLO dedicate its resources to making that happen.”
– The Boston Globe
In 1953, Benjamin Britten composed Noah’s Flood a few years after a storm surge flooded his coastal town, leaving 300 people dead and 40,000 homeless, and destroying his own home. Over 70 years later, the effects of climate change have only intensified. Exploring themes of resilience, peace, and unity, this FREE production will bring the community together in a participatory performance featuring hundreds of K-12 youths alongside Boston Lyric Opera artists, singers and instrumentalists from numerous local ensembles – even the audience will join in!
Music by Benjamin Britten
Text from English Miracle Plays, Moralities and Interludes
Produced by Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Children’s Chorus, and Boston String Academy
Presented in collaboration with Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall
In partnership with Back Bay Ringers, New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and more, with Boston Lyric Opera artists
Engaging local environmental groups, activists, artists, and scholars, BLO will initiate public dialogue, using our platform to raise awareness of climate change. Additionally, we will present free, environmentally focused performances by diverse local artists.
Upcoming Events
Opera Night at the Boston Public Library: Nature’s Voice
Wednesday, April 16 | 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Learn More and Register
Inundation District: Free Screening & Talkback
Thursday, April 17 | 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM | MASARY Studios
Join us for a free screening, Q&A with film creators, and climate building community. Light refreshments to be provided. Screening begins at 7:30pm. INUNDATION DISTRICT is an award-winning feature-length film about the implications of one city’s decision to ignore the threats posed by climate change and spend billions of dollars on building a new waterfront district – on landfill, at sea level.
Co-presented MASARY Studios and Boston Lyric Opera
RSVP HERE
Arias Aloft: Rising Waters, Rising Voices
Sunday, April 27 | 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
A collaboration between Circus 617, Boston Lyric Opera, and Opera On Tap Boston
Aligned with BLO’s new initiative to bring climate awareness to the forefront, Arias Aloft: Rising Waters, Rising Voices features music and movement inspired by humanity’s connection to Earth’s waterways. This all-ages show features opera, musical theatre, and cabaret classics paired with breathtaking original circus acts.
Boston Lyric Opera is thrilled to partner with Circus 617, Opera on Tap Boston, and South Boston MOMS Club to bring you a one-of-a-kind experience that interweaves opera and circus arts, presented at BLO’s Opera + Community Studios, just down the street from the Boston Children’s Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art! Arias Aloft brings together Boston’s finest opera singers and acrobats for an unforgettable and unique performance. Don’t miss this high-flying spectacle set to some of the most stunning music in the classical canon that is sure to enchant arts lovers of all ages. And to make the experience even sweeter, we’ll have ice cream for sale from local favorite, Colleen’s of Medford!
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Past Events
Sunday, October 20
Rising Waters / Rising Voices: Concert & Panel Discussion
Fort Point Open Studios
Boston Lyric Opera launched Rising Waters / Rising Voices, an initiative exploring the intersection of opera and climate action, at Fort Point Open Studios.
The 90-minute event featured a concert and a panel discussion moderated by Artistic Director Nina Yoshida Nelsen, in conversation with Rebecca Shoer (Stone Living Lab), Tara Moses (Groundwater Arts), and Christopher Osgood (City of Boston Director of the Office of Climate Resilience). This family-friendly event also included a hands-on craft activity – making an animal puppet inspired by Noah’s Flood.
Friday, October 25
Calves Can’t Handle
Waveforms: Multimedia Art Occurrence
BLO collaborated with MASARY on Calves Can’t Handle, an immersive audio-visual piece exploring the powerful calving events of glaciers and the vast, changing landscapes they create. Featuring 2024/25 Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist Angela Yam.
DEMONSTRATE your organization’s commitment to climate resiliency
REACH our vast network of audiences who are passionate about the arts, the environment, and Boston
SUPPORT a diverse cohort of local artists, youth organizations, and environmental groups
PARTICIPATE in a world premiere opera — BLO’s first-ever community opera — engaging hundreds of youths and community members in a free, family-friendly event.
For partnership and programming inquiries, contact risingwatersrisingvoices@blo.org