State Opera South Australia is marking its 50th birthday by throwing open the doors of the art form it champions.

The company’s 2026 Golden Jubilee season is billed as “opera without borders,” a program that Artistic Director Dane Lam says must speak to the present and imagine the future while honouring the legacy that put Adelaide on the global operatic map. 

Lam’s vision foregrounds both artistic ambition and community connection. The program features four new mainstage productions, alongside initiatives designed to nurture the next generation of artists and audiences.

Says Lam: “Anniversaries are not just about the past. They are about asking what opera should mean for the next 50 years … Opera survives only when it speaks to the present and dares to imagine the future.” 

Dane Lamat  Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide. Portrait © Matt Turner

The anniversary celebrations begin with scale and spectacle rarely seen in this country. Franco Zeffirelli’s monumental Arena di Verona staging of Aida makes its historic international debut at Adelaide Oval on February 5 and 6, with...