Our Festival finale won’t be one to miss—for the first time in two decades, we’ll be presenting an opera: George Frideric Handel’s masterful Alcina!

On a magical island, the sorceress Alcina (Nikola Printz) lures men with beauty and desire, using them for pleasure before discarding them—transforming former lovers into the stones, animals, trees, and other objects that populate her enchanted world. Her allure, like her palace, is sustained by powerful spells that conceal the truth: both Alcina and her island are in ruins. When her latest conquest is given a magical ring that reveals this reality, the illusion begins to collapse. As Alcina’s powers fade, she loses her hold—and ultimately her conquest—to the force of true love.

Brought to life by a stellar cast and an orchestra of period instruments, this production unleashes the opera’s raw emotional intensity and virtuosic fire. At its center is Nikola Printz, whose magnetic performance reveals both Alcina’s intoxicating power and vulnerability beneath the spell. Dark, seductive, and musically electric—Alcina is baroque opera at its best.

This semi-staged production is jointly produced with Festival Opera (Zachary Gordin, director), conducted by artistic director Derek Tam, with Nikola Printz (Alcina), Courtney Miller (Ruggiero), Shawnette Sukler (Morgana), Sara Couden (Bradamante), Spence Greene (Oronte), Nina Jones (Oberto), and Isaiah Musik-Ayala (Melisso).