Opera in the Pines invites you to Pines in Progress: A Masked Ball, our first-ever in-progress presentation, offering an exclusive look at how we bring opera into the here and now. As we prepare for the April premiere of A Masked Ball, this special event welcomes audiences inside the creative process behind our most ambitious production to date.

Pines in Progress is designed for everyone: longtime opera lovers, curious newcomers, and anyone interested in how art is made collaboratively. Come as you are and join us for an intimate afternoon as we share what it takes to reimagine opera for modern audiences, one step before it reaches our stage.

Admission is free, but registration is required.

Opera in the Pines presents A Masked Ball, an immersive reimagining of Giuseppe Verdi’s thrilling masterpiece Un Ballo in Maschera, set within the storied walls of the historic Maine State Building in Poland, Maine. Reframed in 1895, the year the building was dedicated in its new Maine home, this production transforms the landmark into the lavish residence of the Governor of Boston, where guests gather for an opulent evening steeped in intrigue, romance, and fate.

As our audience members arrive as invited guests to the ball, the drama is already unfolding all around them. Characters mingle through the rooms, secrets simmer beneath elegant disguises, and Verdi’s soaring music animates the building’s architecture and natural acoustics. Filtered through a distinctly New England lens, A Masked Ball invites audiences to step inside history, don a mask, and witness a timeless story of love, loyalty, and betrayal.

Ticket sales begin at midnight on February 9, 2026.