The John Conklin Learning & Dramaturgy Series invites audiences to explore opera through historical, artistic, social, and narrative context, honoring the legacy of visionary designer John Conklin. Bringing together study guides, talks, essays, and production insights, the series offers rich, accessible entry points for curious newcomers and longtime opera lovers alike. This is your backstage pass to how opera is made, understood, and reimagined at Boston Lyric Opera.
John Conklin served as an Artistic Advisor for Boston Lyric Opera from 2009 until his passing in 2025. He held long-standing leadership roles with both BLO and The Glimmerglass Festival, and his work shaped the stages of many of the world’s most prominent opera houses, including The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the opera companies of Houston, Seattle, Dallas, Washington, and Minneapolis. Internationally, he designed for English National Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and Opera Australia. He held a long tenure as a professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts before retiring. In 2011, John was recognized through the NEA Opera Honors.
John’s first opera with BLO was La bohème in our 1992/93 season. From there, he created dozens of productions for us, as well as installations, lecture series, marketing artwork, and special projects such as our Signature Series. As an Artistic Advisor, he shaped the company’s artistic vision each season. In August-September 2024, BLO co-presented a retrospective of his work in partnership with the Museum of Scenographic Design at our Opera + Community Studios. That exhibit was later transferred to OPERA America in New York City.
John will be deeply missed by the many artists, technicians, stage crew, administrators, students, patrons, and colleagues who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him. He will be remembered as a prolific designer, dramaturg, storyteller, luminary, and friend.
