Opera Montana is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Norman Maclean’s beloved elegy to household and fly fishing in Montana with a brand new opera by Zach Redler

A River Runs Via It: Michael Kuhn & Schyler Vargas (who play brother Paul & Norman in Zach Redler’s new opera) on the Yellowstone River, August 2025 (Picture: Charlotte Mae Ellison)

Norman Maclean’s novel A River Runs Via Itis a semi-autobiographical account of his relationship along with his brother Paul and their upbringing in early twentieth century Montana the place “there was no clear line between faith and fly-fishing.” First revealed in 1976, it’s acknowledged as one of many definitive American tales of the 20 th century and a basic depiction of the American West. The story is maybe greatest identified via Robert Redford’s Academy Award-winning 1992 movie adaptation starring Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer, and Tom Skerritt.

Now, in celebration of the e-book’s fiftieth anniversary in 2026, Opera Montana is presenting the premiere of an operatic adaptation. Commissioned from composer Zach Redler with a libretto by Matt Foss and Kelley Rourke, A River Runs Via It premieres in September 2026 on the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, with extra October performances in Missoula, the place a few of the story is about. Opera Montana’s inventive director Michael Sakir conducts with stage course by Foss, scenic and video design by Kristin Ellert, and lighting design by Stephen Sakowski. Montana PBS will movie the world premiere performances for a future broadcast. 

A particular preview efficiency and workshop will happen on 20 Could, 2026, at Nationwide Sawdust Theatre in Brooklyn, NY. A collaboration between Nationwide Sawdust, Seagle Pageant, and Opera Montana, this efficiency will function John Maclean, the son of A River Runs Via It’s writer Norman Maclean, studying passages from the novella paired with the corresponding musical items from the opera.  

The opera will function an instrumental ensemble of 24 and a forged of seven together with Schyler Vargas, Michael Kuhn, Christine Taylor Worth, Ryan Bryce Johnson, Megan Marino, Phyllis Pancella, and David Pittsinger 

“For me, at its core, A River Runs Via It is an opera about household, religion, and the sweetness all of us share,” mentioned composer Zach Redler. “The music consists with the intention of being extremely accessible for quite a lot of audiences. Bluegrass, nation, jazz, honky-tonk, Copeland, Maslanka, and others served as inspiration to create each the breadth and romantic nature of the Montana land- and river-scape in addition to the intimacy of a marital feud and the boisterousness of a tin-roofed backwoods bar.”

Zach Redler is a composer whose work strikes between musical theatre and opera. He spent fifteen years engaged on the music groups of musicals on Broadway, regionally, and globally. His opera The Falling and the Rising has had over 20 productions throughout the USA. As a musicologist, Redler’s analysis on and publications of Marcel Tyberg’s music has culminated in a number of premieres and recordings. [Tyberg (1893-1944) was an Austrian composer born into a musical family in Vienna, and who died in Auschwitz-Birkenau/]

Based in 1979, Opera Montana is Montana’s first skilled opera firm. From its early days presenting one grand opera per 12 months, Opera Montana has grown to current two operas and one musical theatre manufacturing every season and a statewide college tour that includes Indigenous artists and music. The Opera Montana Veterans Refrain brings native veterans collectively via music. Its free ticket program “Opera for All” is meant to make skilled performances financially accessible for the group.

Its 2025-26 season contains Pauline Viardot’s Cinderella, Tosca and a music theatre piece primarily based on E.L. Doctorow’s e-book Ragtime. 

Additional particulars from the Opera Montana web site.