Teatro Grattacielo

10/02/2026

Last night, Teatro Grattacielo gathered for a wonderful Beyond Opera Salon at the home of Patricia and Jerome Pesenti in Battery Park City.

We are deeply grateful to Patricia and Jerome for opening their beautiful home to us and for their extraordinary hospitality — and for an incredible evening of food, conversation, music, and community.

Our heartfelt thanks to our wonderful artists for sharing their artistry with us:

Lina Chung, soprano
Hilary Baboukis, mezzo-soprano
Gocha Abuladze, baritone
Saverio Alfieri, piano
Ezio Pillitteri, accordion

The evening featured a program of Italian and Neapolitan songs, bringing everyone together in the intimate spirit that makes these salons so special.

We are also very grateful to our Beyond Opera Salon Committee for making the evening possible: Laura DeFelice, Suzanne Musho, Cecilia Dupire, Patricia & Jerome Pesenti, Judi Kende, David Santiago, Emily Taylor, and Stefanos Koroneos.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make last night such a warm and memorable celebration of Teatro Grattacielo and the community surrounding our work.



Stefanos Koroneos Suzanne Emilia Nuccio Patricia Pesenti Jerome Pesenti Cecilia Dupire

09/25/2026

09/23/2026

Today at lunchtime, opera returned to Gotham Park.

As part of Teatro Grattacielo’s ongoing Opera at Gotham Park initiative, we brought live opera into the heart of Lower Manhattan, under the Brooklyn Bridge and directly into the daily life of the neighborhood.

Today’s artists were:

Kathleen Echols, soprano Kathleen Echols
Kayla Viviana, mezzo-soprano Kayla Viviana
Gigi Lin, soprano Gigi Lin
Stella Christine, soprano stella.christinesoprano
Sarah Pajonas, mezzo-soprano sarah pajonas
Saverio Alfieri, piano 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐢

The program included music by Joseph Summer, Jorge Sosa, and Jules Massenet, bringing together contemporary American voices and the operatic repertoire we continue to celebrate and share.

This work is an essential part of who we are.

Opera should not exist only inside theaters. It should also be present in public spaces, in neighborhoods, and among communities that may not regularly have the opportunity to experience it. Our work at Gotham Park allows us to continue building that connection with Chinatown, the Bowery, and Lower Manhattan through free and accessible programming.

For us, bringing opera to Gotham Park is not simply about presenting a concert. It is about removing barriers, creating curiosity, meeting people where they are, and making opera part of the cultural life of the city.

We are grateful to Gotham Park for continuing to make space for this work and for welcoming Teatro Grattacielo into this extraordinary Lower Manhattan community.

Opera belongs everywhere.

09/22/2026

Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 23, from 12–2 PM, Teatro Grattacielo returns to Gotham Park with Voices Above Water, part of our ongoing Opera at Gotham Park program.

Featuring:

* Kathleen Echols, soprano
* Kayla Viviana, mezzo-soprano
* Gigi Lin, soprano
* Stella Christine, soprano
* Sarah Pajonas, mezzo-soprano
* Saverio Alfieri, piano

Opera at Gotham Park is about bringing opera beyond the traditional theater and into the life of the city.

In partnership with Gotham Park, Teatro Grattacielo is helping activate the historic spaces beneath the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge through free, accessible programming rooted in the communities of Chinatown, the Bowery, and Lower Manhattan. These spaces were once alive with commerce and community before decades of neglect. Today, they are becoming gathering places again—and we are proud to be part of that transformation.

Our goal is simple: to create opportunities for people to encounter opera where they live, work, walk, and gather—and especially to reach audiences for whom opera may never have felt like it belonged to them.

Join us tomorrow from 12–2 PM for Voices Above Water. Free and open to all.

Learn more about Gotham Park at gothampark.org.


Stefanos Koroneos Kathleen Echols Kayla Viviana Gigi Lin stella.christinesoprano sarah pajonas 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐢

09/13/2026

Today marks an important step for Teatro Grattacielo.
We are very happy to announce that Hilary Baboukis, who has already been an important part of our work, is joining Teatro Grattacielo as our Director of Artistic Operations and Programming — becoming the company’s second full-time employee.
Hilary is a talented young artist and administrator, and for us, her growth within the company means something larger. We believe deeply in creating space for artists not only to perform, but also to grow into positions of leadership, decision-making, and responsibility within the organizations that shape our field. The future of opera needs artists at the table — imagining it, building it, and helping lead it forward.
We are very happy to have Hilary taking this next step with us.


Hilary Baboukis

08/27/2026

Teatro Grattacielo’s world-première fully-staged production, astutely devised to utilize the full space of the Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa, affirmed that the piece belongs in opera houses.”
— Joseph Newsome, Voix des Arts

We are thrilled to share this extraordinary review of Teatro Grattacielo’s world staged premiere of Joseph Summer’s The Tempest at La MaMa.

Our deepest congratulations and gratitude to the entire cast, orchestra, creative team, production team, and crew who made this production possible. A world premiere of this scale is the work of an entire company, and we could not be prouder of the artistry, commitment, imagination, and extraordinary collaboration that brought The Tempest to the stage.
Thank you to Joseph Newsome and Voix des Arts for this thoughtful and generous recognition of the production.

Read the full review:
https://www.voix-des-arts.com/2026/08/performance-review-teatro-grattacielo.html?m=1

LaMaMa OperaInNYC

With Joseph Newsome Joseph Summer Stefanos Koroneos

08/19/2026

What a joy it’s been to bring Mozart’s Così fan tutte to life at La MaMa. Thank you to our entire company — every singer, orchestra musician, director, designer, stage manager, and crew member — for the artistry, humor, and heart you brought to this production night after night.

Critics agreed it landed. TheaterScene called it “a stirring reminder that great opera continues to evolve whenever imaginative artists approach it with curiosity, intelligence, and love.” StageFiend praised our creative team’s understanding of the opera and its bold, “gender-balanced take.” The Theatre Times wrote that “the spirit of the production was courteous and generous, exactly, perhaps, what Mozart intended.”

Read the full reviews on our website:
TheaterScene: https://grattacielo.org/in-the-news/cosi-fan-tutte-reviewed-by-theaterscene
StageFiend: https://grattacielo.org/in-the-news/cosi-fan-tutte-reviewed-by-stagefiend
The Theatre Times: https://grattacielo.org/in-the-news/cosi-fan-tutte-reviewed-by-the-theatre-times

Thank you for making this summer unforgettable.



Camera Bardi Vocal Academy Stefanos Koroneos StageFiend Cate Pisaroni Abdiel Vázquez

08/18/2026

What an incredible few weeks it’s been. Thank you to our entire company — every singer, orchestra musician, director, designer, stage manager, and crew member — for the extraordinary hard work, artistry, and heart you poured into The Tempest at La MaMa. This production came alive because of the talent and dedication of everyone involved, on stage and behind the scenes alike.

The reviews are in, and they’re a testament to what you built together. The National Herald wrote that Teatro Grattacielo’s “greatest achievement lies in treating a contemporary opera with the same seriousness afforded to an established masterpiece.” Theatre Beyond Broadway called it “a genuinely thoughtful dialogue between past and present.”

Read the full reviews on our website:
The National Herald: https://grattacielo.org/in-the-news/the-tempest-reviewed-by-the-national-herald
Theatre Beyond Broadway: https://grattacielo.org/in-the-news/the-tempest-reviewed-by-theatre-beyond-broadway

Thank you for believing in new opera, and for making it unforgettable.



Stefanos Koroneos Camera Bardi Vocal Academy Joseph Summer Enrico Fagone Daniel Klein Kayla Viviana Sara Kennedy Omar Najmi Maggie Finnegan Chantelle Grant Sarah Rose Johnson Jordan Rutter-Covatto eliamjramos David Gordon DeAndre Simmons Heather Green Eleanna Fin Shira Ziv Jenna Weitman Hilary Baboukis Nathan Schafer Daniel Bauman