Mar 19, 2026
Manitoba Opera to present a Reimagined Masterpiece & An Enduring Favourite In the 2026/27 Season
Manitoba Opera announced programming for the 2026/27 season (its 54th) today at a launch event at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg. The Western Canadian premiere of Volcano Theatre’s production of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha (pronounced TREE-muh-NEESH-uh): A Musical Reimagining will open the season with three performances November 21, 25, and 27. One of opera’s most powerful and unforgettable stories, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, will close the season April 17, 21, and 23. All performances will take place at the Centennial Concert Hall.
Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining received its world premiere in 2023 in Toronto as part of the city’s Luminato Festival, co-presented with TO Live. It opened to ecstatic roars, cheering, and rave reviews. The Toronto Star wrote: “Joplin’s long-forgotten masterpiece has been ravishingly reborn for the 21st century in a triumphant production.”
Legendary ragtime composer Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha was published in 1911. This opera about a young woman was unlike anything that had come before. It fused Western classical music with popular Black music from the era: blues, barbershop (before it was called that), gospel, and ragtime. Both musically and narratively, it was revolutionary. However, no backer would touch it, and it was not produced in Joplin’s lifetime.
This new Treemonisha was built over seven years of dedicated work with an international team of leading Black women artists who reimagined the piece. While preserving its setting and characters, they crafted a new story and a richly hybrid orchestration that expands on Joplin’s original music fusion.
“As I prepared to conclude my time with Manitoba Opera after 25 years, I wanted this final season to reflect both where we’ve been as well as possibilities for the future,” said Interim Artistic Director, Larry Desrochers. “Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining represents bold, necessary storytelling and a thrilling expansion of the operatic canon, while Madama Butterfly reminds us of the enduring emotional power that first draws audiences to this art form. Together, they capture the spirit of a company that honours tradition while embracing change.”
