On November 5–9, 2025, Los Angeles Opera, The Wallis, and Beth Morrison Projects present the world premiere of Hildegard, the first opera from composer and librettist Sarah Kirkland Snider. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and the Aspen Music Festival and School, Hildegard is scored for eight voices and nine instruments. The production is directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer and features immersive visual projections by Deborah Johnson. Nola Richardson stars as Hildegard von Bingen, leading a cast that also includes Mikaela Bennett as Richardis von Stade; Conducting is Gabriel Crouch, a longtime collaborator of Snider.
Following its Los Angeles premiere, Hildegard travels to New York City’s PROTOTYPE Festival, running January 9–17, 2026. An engagement at the Aspen Music Festival and School follows in Summer 2026. Hildegard is one of the most anticipated new operas of the year, and was recently featured in The New York Times’ season highlights.
Set in the year 1147, Hildegard tells the story of the visionary 12th-century abbess, mystic, saint, and composer Hildegard von Bingen. Today, our protagonist is renowned for her sacred monophony as well as her pioneering work in theology, botany, and medicine. Snider’s narrative centers on Hildegard’s evolving relationship with the young Richardis von Stade, a fellow nun who served as her advisor and helped compile her visionary text Scivias. As Hildegard begins to receive divine visions, she faces the peril of being denounced as a heretic by the Church. Her spiritual and creative collaboration with Richardis deepens into intimacy, forcing both women to confront the limits imposed by faith, gender, and power.
In a statement, Snider reflected on her decades-long connection to the historical figure:
“I first learned about Hildegard von Bingen through reading Oliver Sacks’s book Migraine, in which Sacks popularized a theory suggesting that Hildegard’s visions were a result of migraine. I immediately wanted to know more, as someone who also suffers from chronic migraines. Thus began a twenty-five-year fascination with Hildegard—her music, visions, and astonishing story. I was awestruck by her triumph over self-doubt, illness, and the otherwise impenetrable social barriers of her time to become the first woman in the history of the Catholic Church to speak and write in the name of God.
“I wanted to share this story while exploring aspects of her philosophy and the more mysterious realm of her visions, and I thought it would be interesting to do this through the prism of her relationship with fellow nun Richardis von Stade, with whom she shared an impassioned yet complicated love.”
Interested in exploring further operatic repertoire inspired by the characters, culture, and music of the medieval era? Check out the Stories of the Middle Ages and Renaissance section of our recent feature on Operas in Concert.
For more information, please contact your local Wise Music Promotion Team; Contact Us.
