Central City Opera Partners with National Jewish Health for Summer Festival COVID-19 Safety Protocols

Central City Opera has partnered with National Jewish Health to help artists and audience members stay safe during Central City Opera’s 2021 Festival presented at The Hudson Gardens & Event Center. The medical experts at National Jewish Health are helping Central City Opera create a system of COVID-19 safety protocols that will allow performers and audiences to feel secure in knowing a variety of measures have been taken to ensure their wellbeing.

“Central City Opera is pleased to partner with National Jewish Health as we continue to monitor the impact of COVID on our Festival operations,” said Pelham “Pat” Pearce, General/Artistic Director at Central City Opera. “We are thankful to have National Jewish Health as such a wonderful resource in our community to help us prioritize the safety of our patrons and company members.”

Examples of the protocols and best practices being implemented for the Festival include: outdoor, open-air performances; reduced performance lengths to eliminate intermissions; COVID-compliance training for Central City Opera staff; daily health screenings for company members; physically-distanced patron seating; and refunds for patrons who need to stay home because of illness.

“As we continue to return to normal, National Jewish Health is excited to work with the Central City Opera to face the challenges of ensuring the health and safety of everyone involved,” said James Finigan, MD, pulmonologist and Director of The Respiratory Centers of Excellence at National Jewish Health. “The Central City Opera has been extremely thoughtful in implementing a rigorous set of COVID-19 protocols.”

The Central City Opera Festival (July 3 – August 1, 2021) is a four-week extravaganza of storytelling and powerful voices, featuring classical music’s biggest talents, the Central City Opera Orchestra and rising stars from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s beloved musical Carousel and Verdi’s thriller, Rigoletto, will be produced as open-air, socially-distanced performances at The Hudson Gardens & Event Center in Littleton, Colo., while Purcell’s bewitching, hour-long opera Dido and Aeneas and the CCO Al Fresco concert series will be presented in the Opera House Gardens in Central City, Colo. Company members will reside and rehearse in Central City.