RMA Presents “The Glimmerglass Festival”
Robert Ainsley, now Artistic and General Director of the Glimmerglass Festival, returned to Christ Church to reflect on his journey from a 1999 gap-year organist in Greenwich to a leading figure in American opera, including formative years at the Metropolitan Opera and cofounding the Greenwich Music Festival with Ted Huffman. He described Glimmerglass as a “cultural miracle” on Otsego Lake, highlighting Cooperstown’s carefully preserved charm, the intimate Alice Busch Opera Theater, and the festival’s role as both artistic engine and civic forum. Looking ahead to Glimmerglass’s 50th anniversary, he outlined an American-themed season featuring a new “Oklahoma!” and a reimagined “Madama Butterfly,” interwoven with performances by resident artists Kaileigh Riess and Lauren Torey that exemplified his view that the line between opera and musical theater is unnecessary.
