Garnet Rogers at Fredonia Opera House

In celebration of 30 years of the Folk in Fredonia Music Series, the Opera House in 2024 is bringing back some of the artists who performed in the earlier years of the series. Garnet Rogers first appeared in 1996, and we’re thrilled that he is returning! Rogers has established himself as “one of the major talents of our time.” Hailed by the Boston Globe as a “charismatic performer and singer,” he is a man with a powerful physical presence – close to six and a half feet tall – with a voice to match. His music, like the man himself, is literate, passionate, highly sensitive, and deeply purposeful. Cinematic in detail, his songs “give expression to the unspoken vocabulary of the heart.” Tickets: $20, $18 (Opera House Members), $10 (Students)

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center is a 444-seat restored Vaudeville theater that offers a wide range of programming including live music, theater, dance and an independent cinema series. The Opera House also is the only venue in northern Chautauqua County licensed to present live high definition satellite broadcasts of opera productions from the renowned Metropolitan Opera in NYC, live theatre from the National Theatre, in London, and ballet from Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet. Each year in June, the Opera House also presents a three-day Baroque music festival.

A landmark fixture on Fredonia’s Barker Commons, the Opera House was saved from destruction in the early 1980s when the Fredonia Preservation Society (which came into existence in response to the threatened demolition) and a corps of committed volunteers undertook what was to become a nine-year restoration of the theater. At a cost of more than $1 million and with more than 30,000 volunteer hours, the Opera House was returned to its splendor and has operated year-round continually since its grand reopening in November 1994.

The recipient of a New York State Historic Preservation Award, the Opera House combines turn-of-the-century beauty and charm with modern comforts. In fact, many individuals and organizations find the Opera House an ideal venue and rent it for events, conferences, meetings and even weddings. For information on events, tours or rentals, contact the Fredonia Opera House at 716-679-0891 or visit www.fredopera.org.