EVENTS & PRESS
Events
| Date | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|
| June 12-26, 2027 | Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, US | World Premiere of Safe Haven, music by Tobias Picker, libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman. A young Jewish opera singer flees Europe as World War II closes in — carrying her faith and dreams across the ocean and into an uncertain future. When America hesitates to open its doors, Eleanor Roosevelt fights to awaken the conscience of a nation. Though their paths only cross once, each woman leaves a lasting mark on the other. But decades after that fateful meeting, a shocking act of violence reminds us that history ignored is all too likely to repeat itself. More information. |
| August 1, 5, 14, 18, 27, 2026 | The Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US | American Premiere of Lili Elbe, directed by James Robinson, conducted by Roberto Kalb. Cast: Lucia Lucas (Lili Elbe), Sylvia D'Eramo (Gerda Wegener), Josh Lovell (Claude Lejeune), Lindsay Ammann (Mother Wegener), Andrew Harris (Professor Warnekros). Read the press release. |
| December 14-22, 2025 | NPR | "Lotte Returns!" by Aryeh Lev Stollman, commissioned by NPR. Listen to the story as part of NPR's Hanukkah Lights 2025: Stories of the Season series. |
| October 27, 2025 | The Guggenheim Museum Works & Process series, New York, NY, US | The Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process series has been described by The New York Times as "an exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process." Works & Process presents a moderated discussion with musical selections from Lili Elbe by Tobias Picker and Aryeh Lev Stollman, which will have its American premiere at The Santa Fe Opera in 2026. More information and tickets. |
| January 29, 2024 | Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Lili Elbe named "Best World Premiere of 2023" at the OPER! AWARDS 2024 ceremony. The OPER! AWARDS are Germany's only international opera prize, presented annually to the most outstanding creative talents in the global opera industry, chosen by a jury of music journalists. |
| December 14, 2023 | Mayo Clinic, Center for Humanities in Medicine, Phoenix, AZ | Composer Tobias Picker and librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman discuss their recent world premiere operas: Awakenings, based on the book by Oliver Sacks, and Lili Elbe, the story of one of the first persons to undergo gender affirmation surgery. |
| October 22, 29, November 2, 5, 11, 17, December 3, 2023 | Theater Saint Gallen, Switzerland | World Premiere: "Lili Elbe," an opera by Tobias Picker, libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman, based on the life of Lili Elbe. |
| February 25, 2023 | Odyssey Opera, Huntington Theater, Boston, MA https://odysseyopera.org/awakenings/ | East Coast Premiere: "Awakenings," an opera by Tobias Picker, libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman, based on the book by Oliver Sacks. |
| June 5, 9, 11, 18, 24, 2022 | Opera Theatre of Saint Louis https://opera-stl.org/whats-on/awakenings/ | World Premiere: "Awakenings," an opera by Tobias Picker, libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman, based on the book by Oliver Sacks. |
| April 5, 2020 7:30pm | The Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY guggenheim.org/event/opera-theatre-of-saint-louis-awakenings | Works & Process: A Talk about the Creation and Process of Contemporary Works "Awakenings," an opera by Tobias Picker, libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman, based on the book by Oliver Sacks. Discussion with Roberto Kalb and James Robinson, performances by original cast members Joyce El-Khoury, Paul Groves, Jarrett Logan Porter, and David Portillo. |
| November 1-11, 2019 | Wilks Studio, Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH ofnw.org/projects#/awakenings/ | Workshop: "Awakenings" Opera Fusion:New Works will workshop the opera "Awakenings" by Tobias Picker, libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman, during a 10-day residency in Cincinnati, utilizing the facilities, personnel, and talent of both Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. The workshop will be cast with a combination of CCM students and professional artists. |
| November 11, 2019 7:30pm | Wilks Studio, Music Hall, Cincinnati, OH ofnw.org/projects#/awakenings/ | Public presentation The conclusion of the 10-day workshop of "Awakenings," the new opera by Tobias Picker, libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman. This public concert performance of excerpts from the opera will be followed by an audience Q&A session. |
| February 18, 2016 | George Washington University davidbrucesmith.com/jewish-literature-live/ | Jewish Literature Live! Spring Semester 2016 Writers "The Far Euphrates" |
| February 21-26, 2015 | Salzburg Global Seminar Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, Austria www.salzburgglobal.org/calendar/2010-2019/2015/session-547.html | The Neuroscience of Art Invited Guest: The Written Word |
| November 6, 2014 | Western New England University D'Amour Library, Room 319 www1.wne.edu/artsandsciences/index.cfm?selection=doc.10434 | Fall 2014 Authors Series Reading and discussion: "The Little Poet" |
| March 12, 2014 | The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA www.wm.edu | Author Discussion "The Far Euphrates" |
| April 18, 2012 | Binghamton University SUNY www2.binghamton.edu/judaic-studies/courses.html | Author Reading and Discussion "The Far Euphrates" |
Press
"An Opera of Transitions for a Trans Pioneer," Max Keller, The New York Times. "Picker...emphasizes the opera's broad appeal: "I think the piece exists outside of time and current events. It's a story that anybody can relate to. Marriage and divorce and falling in love and dying. These are universal themes."" The entire piece can be read here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/arts/music/tobias-picker-lili-elbe-transgender-santa-fe-opera.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1FA.XVQh.08Mw4JeAPv-9&smid=nytcore-ios-share
"Portrait of an Artist, Evolving," Thomas May, Musical America. "In Tobias Picker and Aryeh Lev Stollman's Lili Elbe, a marriage changes faster than either partner can comprehend ... The opera draws on the lives of Einar and Gerda Wegener, a married pair of early 20th-century Danish artists. As the story unfolds, Einar comes to understand herself and live openly as Lili Elbe. Stollman centers that narrative on Lili's painful process of self-understanding and acceptance, alongside what Lili's transformation means for Gerda and the life they have built together ... Picker's score sustains this intertwined drama with assurance, at times expanding into passages of transporting lyricism." The entire piece can be read here: https://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newsstory.cfm?storyid=68822&categoryid=4&archived=0
Review: "'Awakenings' is the stuff of dreams" (A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe): https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/27/arts/awakenings-is-stuff-dreams/
"Oliver Sacks Gets an Opera" (Eren Orbey, The New Yorker): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/27/oliver-sacks-gets-an-opera
The New York Times covered the creation of the opera in their piece, "An Oliver Sacks Book Becomes an Opera, With Help From Friends" which can be read here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/arts/music/awakenings-opera-oliver-sacks.html
