The Glimmerglass Festival Dedicates
the New Lady Juliet Tadgell Garden
Cooperstown, NY—This past weekend, the Board of Trustees of the Glimmerglass Festival formally dedicated the newly redone courtyard adjacent to the theater as The Lady Juliet Tadgell Garden.
A longtime summer resident of the Cooperstown community and Honorary Life Trustee of the Festival, Lady Juliet has been one of the organization’s most ardent friends and supporters since 1983.
Three years ago, Lady Juliet and her husband, Dr. Christopher Tadgell, spent their final summer in Cooperstown before selling their Lake Street home and returning to England. At that time, the company honored the Tadgells with a presentation about the garden, which would be established over the subsequent two years, with work to begin after completing the installation of the new theater roof.
Speaking on behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff, Festival Chairman Robert Nelson said, “It is our privilege to formally dedicate The Lady Juliet Tadgell Garden this summer as we return to the opera house following a two-year hiatus. I cannot imagine a more beautiful way to welcome visitors back while honoring one of our most valued friends. Generations of opera-goers have benefited from Lady Juliet’s enthusiasm, leadership and generosity, and this exquisite garden and gathering spot is befitting of the artistry that she helped make possible over her four decades of involvement. We only wish she were here with us in person to accept our gratitude.”
The Festival received a major grant from New York State/Empire State Development for the garden and other capital repairs, along with a separate grant from the Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Development Council and the New York State Council for the Arts for the roof.
The Alice Busch Opera Theater was designed as a visual reflection of its natural surroundings, and this idea was retained in the new garden design by award-winning landscape architect, Sheila Brady, principal and partner with the Washington, D.C.-based firm Oehme, van Sweden (OvS). Ms. Brady is a renowned leader in sustainable design, with sensitivity for a site’s environment and context. Her portfolio includes gardens at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, New York Botanical Garden and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Ms. Brady was the Landscape Architect of Record for the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial and the World War II Memorial, both on the National Mall.
The design was carried forward by Mary Leonard, of Carefree Gardens in Cooperstown, with ground assistance from Glimmerglass Festival Facilities Manager Leon Roseboom. Concessions Manager/Operations Assistant, Lizzy Mott, maintains the site, replanting seedlings and offshoots on other parts of the Festival campus, enhancing the garden’s significance.
The 2022 Glimmerglass Festival continues through August 21, with performances of The Sound of Music, Carmen, Tenor Overboard, Taking Up Serpents/Holy Ground, The Jungle Book, and The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson. www.glimmerglass.org.
