Boston is Writing an Opera!
A FREE Community Opera Public Workshop with poet Tracy K. Smith
Presented Boston Lyric Opera in partnership with Boston Symphony Orchestra and the City of Boston
February 14, 2026 | 2:00-3:30PM
Boston Public Library | South Boston Branch
646 East Broadway, Boston, MA 02127
Want to help create a new opera—by Boston, for Boston? Share Your Stories!
Join Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet and 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States, for a community workshop and listening session that invites your voice into the making of a brand-new opera.
This gathering is about more than listening—it’s about authorship. Together, we’ll explore poetry and storytelling as tools for connection, reflection, and collective imagination. Participants will hear poems by Tracy and other contemporary poets, and will be invited to respond—by speaking, writing, or simply sharing what resonates.
Over the coming months, dozens of community listening sessions across the city will inform a libretto shaped directly by the lived experiences of Bostonians. Your stories, language, memories, and questions will help inspire an opera that reflects the richness, complexity, and spirit of this city.
The resulting opera—rooted in Boston’s voices and created in partnership with its communities—will premiere at Symphony Hall in May 2027.
No previous experience with poetry or opera is required. This space is open to all who feel a connection to Boston—whether lifelong, newly arrived, or somewhere in between.
Can’t join us in person? Stay tuned for ways to participate virtually and add your voice from wherever you are.