Projected economic impact of Wagner’s Ring estimated at $39 million

Thousands of opera lovers from 50 states and 22 countries come to Seattle

Seattle Opera’s award-winning production of Wagner’s Ring returns for three complete cycles in this Wagner bicentennial year, August 4 through August 25.  A forecast prepared by Professor William B. Beyers of the University of Washington estimated that Seattle Opera’s 2013 Ring will have a total economic impact of $39 million, supporting 755 jobs and labor income of $17.5 million.  These estimates are based on ticket sales data and estimates of patron expenditures, including travel, food and beverage, accommodations, entertainment, and other costs.  Opera lovers from all 50 states and 22 foreign countries are coming to Seattle for an unforgettable experience of story, music, spectacle, and community.  Single ticket prices (for performances) begin at $175.  Tickets are still available for all Ring events except the August 14 Symposium.

Principal Guest Conductor Asher Fisch, named “among the finest Ring conductors of our time” by Opus Magazine, leads his first complete cycle in North America.  British soprano Alwyn Mellor makes her Seattle Opera debut as Brünnhilde, as does German tenor Stefan Vinke as Siegfried.  Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley returns as Wotan, the role for which he won the Seattle Opera Artist of the Year Award in 2005. Also returning are Richard Paul Fink as Alberich, Margaret Jane Wray as Sieglinde and the Third Norn, Stuart Skelton as Siegmund, Dennis Petersen as Mime, Daniel Sumegi as Fafner and Hagen, Andrea Silvestrelli as Fasolt and Hunding, Luretta Bybee as Schwertleite and the First Norn, and Stephanie Blythe as Fricka, the Second Norn, and Waltraute (Götterdämmerung).

Der Ring des Nibelungen By Richard Wagner

In German with English Captions

All performances take place at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall

Tickets: Single tickets start at $175

Seattle Opera Ticket Office: 206.389.7676, 800.426.1619,