Teatro Nuovo is a young organization devoted to cutting-edge interpretation of classic Italian opera. Our mission is threefold: First, to offer exciting revivals of neglected Bel Canto masterworks alongside freshly re-studied interpretations of familiar ones.  Second, to ally virtuoso singing at the highest level with historically-informed performing styles and orchestral instruments of the era. Third, to train young musicians in the special skills required to bring this thrilling repertory to life. 

The ensemble was created to continue and expand the work of “Bel Canto at Caramoor,” a program that from 1997 to 2017 won steady international acclaim for its revivals of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi, while also training over 500 young singers, many of them now prominent on stages worldwide.

Teatro Nuovo debuted in July 2018 with a nine-day festival and a six-week training program, presenting semi-staged concert performances of Rossini’s Tancredi and Mayr’s Medea in Corinto, along with related concerts, recitals, lectures, and public master-classes. In addition to taking over the renowned vocal program established at Caramoor, Teatro Nuovo introduced a new, handpicked orchestra of period-instrument performers, bringing this approach to 19th-century opera for the first time in America. Our long-term goal is to build, from the summer program and its alumni, a stable performing ensemble to carry exciting Bel Canto interpretations to audiences worldwide.

About our Name

Teatro Nuovo – Italian for “new theater” – was chosen to summarize our goals and approach.

Why “Teatro” for an ensemble giving concert performances? Because the core of operatic drama lies in music and its expression. Visual elements can accompany these in many effective ways, but if the audible interpretation does not convince, the “theater” of opera cannot come to life.

Why “Nuovo” for a program centered on old music? Because in all the arts, forward motion sometimes depends on re-learning the past. Verdi’s counsel: “Tornate all’antico e sarà un progresso” – return to the old, and it will be progress. We immerse ourselves in opera’s history not to turn back the clock, but to discover how its riches can be transmitted to the 21st century.

Why an Italian name for an American ensemble? Because all Western forms of musical theater trace their origins in one way or another to Italy’s invention of opera. Italian culture, like the Italian population, has become international over time; its propagation now belongs to the whole world, but requires profound knowledge of and connection to its origins at home.

Affiliation