La Scala in the USA – a Gala in New York, an exhibition in Washington, and a screening in Los Angeles
After visits to Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Madrid and London, La Scala continues an international tour presenting its 2025/2026 season of dance, opera and concerts, with dates in the United States as a guest of the Italian Consulate General in New York and the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. The theatre’s CEO and Artistic Director, Fortunato Ortombina, and Paolo Besana, Director of Communications, have been presenting the artistic aims of the theatre, especially in view of the 250th anniversary of Milan’s opera house in 2028.
A gala on 1 November, organised by the Teatro alla Scala Association of America, will take place at the New York Historical, including the participation of conductor Daniele Rustioni, who is currently engaged at the Metropolitan Opera, and extracts from La Bohème with Armenian soprano Juliana Grigoryan.
In Washington, the exhibition “Callas, Visconti, Zeffirelli” will open on 22 January 2026, organised by the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Luchino Visconti and continuing the celebrations for the centenary of Franco Zeffirelli and Maria Callas, “La divina in Washington: Two artists at La Scala for Maria Callas” will be at the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery. It will celebrate the visionary genius of two Italian directors and the legendary soprano, and the exhibition is the result of a collaboration between Teatro alla Scala Foundation, the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation, the Greek Embassy in the United States and George Washington University. The exhibition will show (for the first time in the United States) six splendid costumes worn by Maria Callas during her performances at the Teatro alla Scala in the mid-fifties, which have been recently restored.
The French documentary film La Scala – The Force of Destiny, on the preparations leading up to last year’s opening night of the season on 7 December, was screened in Los Angeles as part of the American French Film Festival. The documentary was the first in a new partnership between Rai Documentaries and France Télévisions. La Scala – The Force of Destiny will be distributed in Austrian and German cinemas in the coming weeks, seen at the Madrid Film Festival and the Messina Opera Film Festival, and broadcast on French TV.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
