West Edge Opera returns to the Oakland Scottish Rite Center August 1–16. This year’s Festival presents a trio of works — Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw,” Handel’s “Rinaldo”, and “American Apollo” by Damien Geter and Lila
Palmer — three operas that span centuries yet converge around a shared, urgent question: How do we hold onto our sense of self in a world shaped by forces beyond our control?
Together, these works form a provocative season-long journey probing how we confront what haunts us, how we resist what confines us, and how we fight to be seen fully and authentically.
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The Turn of the Screw, Benjamin Britten
Conductor: Jonathan Khuner
Director: Mark Streshinsky
Britten’s The Turn of the Screw is a gripping psychological opera that blurs the line between the seen and the unseen, the real and the imagined. When a young Governess arrives at a remote English estate to care for two seemingly innocent children, she is confronted by forces she cannot fully explain, whispers in the dark, shadows that linger, and memories that refuse to stay buried. As unseen presences infringe on her reality, the opera dives deep into the fragile territory of belief: what happens when the phantoms we fear most take root in our minds, shaping our actions and distorting our best intentions? In this haunting tale, the ghosts of the past threaten to destroy the future, innocence fractures under the weight of doubt, and the Governess must face whether the true danger comes from the world around her or the one within.
Cast: Laura Bohn (The Governess), Alex Boyer (Peter Quint/Prologue), Erin Neff (Mrs. Grose), Alexa Sessler (Miss Jessel)
Creative Team: Set and Projection Design by Yuki Izumihara, Costume Design by Sarah Nietfeld, and Lighting Design by Illia Campbell.
Rinaldo, George Frideric Handel
Conductor: Emily Senturia
Director: Keturah Stickann
At its heart, Handel’s Rinaldo is a story about staying true to oneself when everything around us conspires to pull us off course. It is an operatic journey through distraction, desire, and the invisible pressures that test our resolve. Rinaldo stands as a symbol of the hero in all of us—struggling to keep focus and purpose alive while the world throws its most seductive diversions and destabilizing challenges in our path. The opera captures the exhilarating and exhausting fight to remain steadfast when reality blurs, when emotions wage war for our attention, and when the quest for clarity becomes as demanding as any battlefield. With music that elevates every moment of doubt, courage, temptation, and triumph, Rinaldo ultimately celebrates the resilience required to move through a chaotic world with heart, conviction, and unshakable determination.
Cast: Kyle Tingzon (Rinaldo), Shawnette Sulker (Almirena), Nikki Einfeld (Armida), Sara Couden (Goffredo), and Efraín Solis (Argante), Gabi Esquenazi (Siren/Magician)
Creative Team: Set Design by Liliana Duque Piñero, Lighting Design by Michael Oesch,
Projection Design by Yuki Izumihara.
American Apollo, Damien Geter and Lila Palmer
Conductor: Kedrick Armstrong
Director: Nataki Garrett
American Apollo confronts the powerful question at the center of so much of America and identity: Who gets to tell the story? Inspired by Thomas Eugene McKeller, the Black model whose body, presence, and humanity shaped the celebrated murals of artist John Singer Sargent, the opera explores the profound imbalance between what the world chooses to see and what it chooses to forget. Though McKeller’s form appears in paintings that now hang in revered galleries, he himself was rendered invisible, his name omitted, his story minimized, his life overshadowed by the artist he inspired. American Apollo brings him to the forefront, giving voice to the muse who had been silenced and restoring the dignity of a man whose image helped define an era. Through a powerful score and a deeply human narrative, the opera challenges us to confront erasure, reclaim history, and recognize the people whose stories shape our cultural legacy, even when the world refuses to look.
Cast: Markel Reed (Thomas Eugene McKeller), John Bellemer (John Singer Sargent), Marnie Breckenridge (Isabella Stewart Gardner), Alexandra Armantrading (Ida Mae McDonald) Matt Hidalgo (Nicola D’Inverno/ Mr. Sparhawk), Leberta Lorál (Florence McKeller/Mrs. Smiths), Philip Harris (Willie McDonald), Wilford Kelly (Clarence/Emcee), Michael Belle (George), and Alex Taite (Walter).
Creative Team: Set Design by Nina Ball, Costume Design by Sarah Nietfeld, Lighting Design
by Michael Oesch, Projections by Yuki Izumihara.