Riders of the Purple Sage

About

Opera Santa Barbara presents Craig Bohmler’s Western opera Riders of the Purple Sage, adapted from Zane Grey’s 1912 novel. Commissioned by Arizona Opera and premiered in the 2016–2017 season, the work has since earned recognition as a major addition to the American operatic canon. The score fuses traditional operatic writing with a cinematic sound world that nods to classic Western film music. Staged at Santa Barbara’s historic Lobero Theatre, the production is sung in English with projected LED captions. Running time is approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes including one intermission. Creative listings differ between official sources: Opera Santa Barbara names Lyndon Meyer (conductor) and Richard Gammon (director), while the Lobero Theatre page lists Joseph Mechavich (conductor) and Tara Faircloth (director). The cast features soprano Karin Wolverton and tenor Joshua Dennis, with baritone Keith Phares and bass-baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco noted on the Lobero page.