LA Opera’s 40th Anniversary Season Marks Growing Impact Across Los Angeles

LA Opera’s 40th Anniversary Season Marks Growing Impact Across Los Angeles By Afton MarkayThe LA Opera has reported that its 40th anniversary season proved to be a year of exceptional audience response, community engagement, and momentum. The 2025-26 season was marked by added performances and sold-out mainstage productions to hundreds of community-based events in schools, hospitals, parks, neighborhoods and cultural centers across Los Angeles County. The season also concluded James Conlon’s 20-year tenure as LA Opera’s Richard Seaver Music Director. His final season featured acclaimed performances of “West Side Story,” “Falstaff,” “The Magic Flute,” “Noah’s Flood” and the “James Conlon Farewell Concert.” A major highlight was the Company’s 38 percent increase in participation over the previous season. This was seen alongside a return to pre-pandemic attendance levels. The Company also increased its digital presence with its Instagram followers growing from 63K to more than 100K, while content on TikTok surpassed 2 million video views. LA Opera’s 2025-26 season also generated significant economic activity across Los Angeles. The company’s $51 million in operating expenses, together with audience spending, produced an estimated impact of $57.46 million in regional economic activity. Throughout the season, LA Opera employed more than 600 union-represented performing artists and craftspeople. In addition to this, the Company also continued to expand innovative arts-and-wellness initiatives, helping advance innovative models for arts-based wellness. Building on this work, LA Opera convened its fifth annual Arts and Health Summit led by Renée Fleming. “This season affirmed something powerful: Angelenos are returning to opera with real enthusiasm, and LA Opera is meeting that moment both onstage and across the community,” said Christopher Koelsch, LA Opera’s President and CEO in a press release. “It was especially meaningful to mark our 40th Anniversary Season while celebrating the extraordinary final year of James Conlon’s tenure as Music Director — a legacy that has shaped this company for two decades. As we look ahead to Domingo Hindoyan’s arrival, we do so with record-setting audience response, expanded civic impact, and renewed momentum for LA Opera’s next chapter. Sustaining that level of artistic ambition and public service will continue to depend on a broad community of philanthropic support that makes our work possible.” The LA Opera opens its 2026-27 season in Oct. with a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen“ by Thaddeus Strassberger. Read Related Stories - Due to High Demand, LA Opera Adds Additional Performance of ‘Akhnaten’ - Renée Fleming to Host LA Opera’s Fifth Annual Arts & Health Week Summit - Sondra Radvanovsky, Rihab Chaieb, Patti LuPone, Joshua Guerrero, Juliana Grigoryan, Angela Meade & Lawrence Brownlee Lead LA Opera’s 2026-27 Season