Opera in the Pines is a professional Maine-based opera company founded in 2022.
History Founded in 2022 by three Maine-native singers, Lauren Yokabaskas, Sable Strout and Aaron Rivard, Opera in the Pines launched its premiere season with the production of Russian composer Grigory Frid’s monogrammatic opera, The Diary of Anne Frank. It featured actress, Rachel Policar, in the title role. Described as an "alternative opera company committed to reinventing the opera experience" through site-specific productions, the opera was staged at the Maine Jewish Holocaust Museum in Portland, Maine. The production won third prize in The American Prize in Opera Performance.
In keeping with their mission to provide "on-site opera", Opera in the Pines has staged productions such as American composer Robert Ward’s The Crucible in a "legendary haunted church" (The Old Red Church) in Standish, Maine; along with a reimagined version of Rossini's The Barber of Seville ("The Barber of the Cape"), staged in a lobster restaurant in Cape Neddick, Maine.
In 2023, the company staged Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème at various locations throughout Maine in a "first-of-its-kind bar crawl"; which included a beer tasting taproom, a winery, and a distillery.La Boheme at Maine Beer Company. Michel, Jimi. Maine Beer News. June-July 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2026 The company celebrated their fifth anniversary with an immersive production of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1859 opera Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball). The production took place at the historic Maine State Building in Poland, Maine; in keeping with the opera’s political theme and resetting by Verdi to colonial-era New England.April 12, 2026. Happenings for the Week of April 12. April 12, 2026. WSJ Arts in Review Staff. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 20, 2026
Productions The Diary of Anne Frank, Grigory Frid, 2022 La bohème, Giacomo Puccini, 2023 The Crucible, Robert Ward, 2024 "The Barber of the Cape" (The Barber of Seville), Gioachino Rossini, 2025 Un ballo in maschera, Giuseppe Verdi, 2026
References
External links Opera in the Pines - website Opera in the Pines: It's the only opera served with a side of slaw - News Center Maine Opera America: Opera in the Pines How to get people to attend opera? A Maine company may have the answer 207 - Channel 6 Opera in the Pines - YouTube Channel