McHugh and Van Dorn Hooker designed the first structure, working with the acoustical engineer Jack Purcell of Bolt, Beranek and Newman (Boston and Los Angeles). He established the Santa Fe Opera in 1957. Crosby, for an open-air house that would take advantage of Santa Fe’s “ideal climate, natural beauty, and interest of the public in the great southwest.” Crosby, an army veteran turned musician and composer, came to New Mexico in 1943 seeking a cure for chronic asthma. It fulfills the vision of its founder, John O.

The Santa Fe Opera overlooks the Tesuque Highway from its mesa top site, and faces west toward the more distant Jemez and Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Defined as much by the surrounding high desert landscape as by programmatic requirements, the opera house has continued to offer a convincingly modern interpretation of New Mexico’s regional identity. Rebuilt three times, each successive structure has retained the footprint of the previous building. The Santa Fe Opera is the only open-air opera house in the United States.

Santa fe opera schedule