Austin Opera to Inaugurate New Center with World Premiere of OFRENDA

Breaking news to your phone. US mobile only. No password required.

Broadway + NYC

Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Off Broadway

Cabaret

Dance

Opera

Classical Music

West End / UK

International

Canada

Australia / New Zealand

Europe

Asia

Latin America

Africa / Middle East

Entertainment

Ctrl + K to open · Esc to close

The 90-minute bilingual chamber opera, sung in Spanish and English, marks Austin Opera's first production in its new Southeast Austin home.

Most Popular

Get all the top news & discounts for Opera & beyond. No password required.

Austin Opera is ushering in a new era for the company—and for Austin’s performing arts community—with a historic double first: the opening of the Sarah and Ernest Butler Performance Center, Austin’s newest performing arts venue, and the world premiere of Ofrenda, the first new opera ever commissioned by the company.

Get all the top news & discounts for Opera & beyond.

The opening celebrations begin this Saturday, September 26, with a Community Day and Ribbon Cutting from 2–6 p.m. at the new Butler Performance Center. The event will offer the public its first opportunity to explore the new venue, experience performances by Austin Opera’s Resident Stars in the new theater, participate in a Community Altar honoring Día de los Muertos and the world premiere of Ofrenda, and enjoy family-friendly activities including an orchestra petting zoo. Austin Opera leadership and Sarah and Ernest Butler will officially cut the ceremonial ribbon at 3:00 p.m.

Adding to the celebration, Austin Opera today announces a $500,000 gift from Sangeeta Kaur and Hai Nguyen, which will name the theater within the Butler Performance Center the Sangeeta Teresa Mai and Hai Nguyen Theater.

The gift brings the total raised through Austin Opera’s Inspire 2030 campaign to $6.44 million toward its $8.5 million goal, marking the campaign’s transition into its public phase with 75 percent of the goal already raised.

The two milestones converge in October when Ofrenda, by composer Jorge Sosa and librettist John de los Santos, officially inaugurates the new Butler Performance Center as Austin Opera’s first production in its new home. The 90-minute bilingual chamber opera, sung in Spanish and English with projected English titles, runs October 1–11 during Hispanic Heritage Month.

“This is one of those extraordinary moments when the future of an organization and the future of a city come together,” said Annie Burridge, General Director & CEO of Austin Opera. “We are opening a new home built to expand what is possible for Austin’s artists, audiences and arts organizations, and we are opening it with a work that could only have been created here. Now, thanks to Sangeeta and Hai’s extraordinary generosity, this theater will also carry the names of two people who embody Austin’s commitment to artistic excellence, innovation and community. Ofrenda and the Butler Performance Center together represent an extraordinary new chapter for Austin Opera.”

The Sarah and Ernest Butler Performance Center represents a major expansion of Austin Opera’s role in the city’s cultural life. Located at 5811 Trade Center Drive in Southeast Austin, the new center transforms Austin Opera’s headquarters into a year-round cultural destination offering performance, rehearsal, educational and gathering spaces for Austin Opera and other local arts organizations.

The Center features a 189-seat theater with retractable, tiered seating, four rehearsal rooms, a conference center, indoor and outdoor event spaces and approximately 300 parking spaces. The facility is designed not simply as a home for Austin Opera, but as a resource for Austin’s broader creative community, providing affordable spaces for artists and organizations while creating new opportunities for collaboration and cultural exchange.

The Center is named in honor of Sarah and Ernest Butler , longtime Austin philanthropists and among the company’s most significant supporters. The Butlers previously established the Butler Fund for Spanish Programming, an endowment that supports Spanish-language programming at Austin Opera and helped establish the company’s Curator of Hispanic and Latinx Programming.

The new theater will now bear the name of Sangeeta Teresa Mai and Hai Nguyen, whose $500,000 gift supports Austin Opera’s vision for a vibrant, accessible and artistically ambitious new home.

A 2022 GRAMMY Award winner, Sangeeta is a Vietnamese American singer based in Austin, a Trustee of Austin Opera and a member of the Recording Academy. She and her husband, Hai Nguyen, recently opened Studio Hill Austin, a world-class Dolby Atmos-equipped recording studio in Lakeway, Texas.

“Hai and I are honored to have the opportunity to support Austin Opera and to have our names associated with this extraordinary new theater,” said Sangeeta Teresa Mai. “Austin is a city that embraces creativity, innovation and artists from around the world. We hope this gift helps create a space where artists can take risks, audiences can discover something new and our community can come together for generations to come.”

The gift brings Austin Opera 75 percent of the way toward its $8.5 million Inspire 2030 campaign goal, with $6.44 million now raised. Austin community members can also become a permanent part of the company’s history through the 5811 Club, which offers the opportunity to name a seat in the new theater. Named for Austin Opera’s new home at 5811 Trade Center Drive, the 5811 Club recognizes the founding supporters whose investment is helping transform the vision for the Butler Performance Center into a vibrant new center for arts and culture. Twenty-six seats have already been named.

Nominate your favorite local productions and performers before the deadline on October 31, 2026.

San Francisco Opera Cancels Additional Performances Due to Orchestra Strike

San Francisco Opera & Orchestra Reach Tentative Four-Year Contract

Review: Making Scotland Great Again with Thrilling Davidsen and Kelsey in Met’s New MACBETH

Long Beach Opera Reveals 2026 - 2027 Season

Also text me

When are you seeing ?

Get an Alert Each Time A.A. Cristi Writes

BroadwayWorld TV

Breaking Broadway news & show discounts. No password required.

Also text me

POPULAR

Sign up for announcements and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows!

© 2026 — Copyright Wisdom Digital Media , all rights reserved. Privacy Policy

Episode

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwopera/article/OFRENDA-Will-Inaugurate-Austin-Operas-Sarah-and-Ernest-Butler-Performance-Center-20260924)._