News from the Noteworthy from Glimmerglass Festival
Glimmerglass Festival Celebrating a Half Century
When people think of Cooperstown, they think of baseball. But for thousands of people, their first thought of Cooperstown isn’t bats and bases but arts, culture, opera, and musical theater. Our small town is home to one of the world’s most celebrated opera festivals (not to mention world-class museums!), drawing visitors from around the state, country and globe.
As Glimmerglass celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, we reflect on our intrinsic link with our local community. The festival is woven into our region’s cultural and economic fabric—a hub for artistic collaboration, education, and storytelling. Each year, we engage hundreds of artists, craftspeople and creatives who often return year after year to their summer home on the lake. This influx of people and ideas creates a shared cultural experience vital to this community.
Over five decades, Glimmerglass has evolved in response to the world and our audiences, and this community has fostered our company’s growth. You have connected us to the larger world of music, arts, and culture and helped us weather times of uncertainty (like the difficult climate faced by all arts organizations today). What began as an experiment in the Cooperstown High School has expanded into a festival that embraces both opera and musical theater, an evolution that has made Glimmerglass a vibrant part of the international arts conversation. Today we welcome world-class talent to our stage—stars like Bernadette Peters, Greer Grimsley, Luretta Bybee, John Riddle, and Marina Pires in our 2025 season alone—who perform alongside our community and engage with them, enriching the cultural landscape of Cooperstown in ways that few rural towns experience.
Opera is often perceived as belonging to grand, historic theaters in major metropolitan areas. But Glimmerglass has challenged that idea for decades, demonstrating that a rural town can be just as vital a stage for artistic excellence and cultural dialogue. For decades, the Glimmerglass Festival has been renowned for its artistic innovation and for giving emerging artists a platform to learn and grow. The festival is constantly evolving, engaging new audiences and showcasing stories that participate in meaningful social dialogue and explore universal themes. Just take a look at our lineup for 2025!
That evolution is also reflected in the community that surrounds us. Each summer, Cooperstown becomes a gathering place for opera lovers, Broadway fans, first-time attendees, and seasoned aficionados alike. Locals and visitors share the experience, whether over dinner before a show, in a pre-performance discussion, or over a cup of coffee on Saturday morning. The impact extends far beyond the theater walls.
For half a century, Glimmerglass has been a place where stories come to life, where audiences discover new perspectives, and where the arts flourish in a setting unlike any other. The festival has thrived because of the support of this community. In return, we contribute to economic vitality—tourism dollars that support local restaurants, shops, and businesses—and cultural richness, and bring artistic excellence to Cooperstown. We are grateful for the generations who have embraced us, and as we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we ask you to consider your part in our next 50 years. This summer, why not share your talent on stage, bring a friend to a show, or make a gift in support of our work? Here’s to our shared history—and our shared future!
Robert Ainsley is artistic and general director of The Glimmerglass Festival.