Forward Thinking Opera Company IN Series' New Home in Southwest DC

In the history of arts in our nation’s capital, I expect that October 23, 2026 will be a date remembered with appreciation: the date of the Ribbon Cutting for the Revada Arts Center.

This new arts hub in the SW neighborhood, around the corner from the Waterfront Metro stop, will be the home of Theater Alliance, the 4EYE Film Center, and the opera company IN Series. It is the product of the visionary aspirations of the creatives in these three organizations and the surrounding community, and of the generous responses to a $4.5 million capital campaign.

I spoke with Timothy Nelson, Artistic Director of IN Series, about this exciting new development.

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Evan Keely: Let me start by offering my heartiest congratulations to you, IN Series, Theater Alliance, 4EYE Film Center and the good folks in this SW Washington neighborhood on this thrilling new development: the opening of the Revada Arts Center. I appreciated the conversation you and I had in March about it; I was not aware at that point in time (and perhaps no one was then?) of what the name of this new arts hub would be. At WETA Classical, this name is familiar to us, in no small part because the Revada Foundation is an underwriter of Opera at Eight on WETA VivaLaVoce. What do you want the community to know about the name “Revada Arts Center”?

Timothy Nelson: First of all, I think it’s important for folks to know what this means for IN Series. We’ve not only been nomadic or itinerant for most of our life as an arts institution, but we’ve been proudly so. It’s deeply meaningful to be able to think about what pieces will speak most impactfully in what communities and in what types of spaces. For instance, recently producing Bernstein’s MASS in a sacred space totally changed the way that colossal work spoke to its audience, as a spiritual experience in a way, at least for me, it has always fallen flat in the concert hall. Being at home at the REVADA ARTS CENTER means producing largely in the same DC theater space. Importantly, we will continue to do one site-specific production each season (this year’s THE TRIUMPH OF F.A.U.V.E.L. - An Ass! is notably at the Dupont Underground) because we think that sort of work matters. Being in a space that is a known-quantity for the rest of our season, at least for now, allows us to not have to re-invent the wheel for each project, and to instead focus on a journey of growth in terms of artistic excellent, production acumen, and administrative strength as we seek to evolve from a DC arts organization, to a real institution, a pillar of the DC arts eco-system, and as THE second company in DC’s opera landscape.

EK: IN Series is not a stranger to this space: I appreciated hearing and seeing The Delta King’s Blues there last season; the ongoing renovation of the facility was clearly visible then. You and I spoke last June about Sic Semper Tyrannis, the 2026–27 season for IN Series, but please tell us about the first IN Series production that will be mounted at the new Revada Arts Center.

TN: Our first production in the new space, also our first production of 2027 which is our 45th anniversary year, captures the heart of IN Series — it is made of works never heard before by most DC audiences, it is wholly original and unexpected, it is strange and spiritual and absurd and full

of wonder and surprise. It is also one of the largest projects musically and visually we’ve ever mounted. Un-subtlely titled (N)O KING(S), its first half merges three of the great modernist vocal works of the 20th century into a sort of “requiem for the American dream”, the 20th century itself as the “great American century”. King Harald’s Saga is an acapella one-woman opera depicting King Harald of Norway’s futile attempt to lay siege to England at the Battle of Hasting, but is really an examination of the futility of war and indictment of the Vietnam conflict during which it was written. 8 Songs for a Mad King is the most famous work on the program, and is Peter Maxwell Davies’s incredible setting of texts inspired by the diary entries of the mad King George III on losing the American colonies. Finally, Luciano Berio’s O King was written for the death of Martin Luther King and is simply the intoning of the vowels of the slain leader’s name. Together these works will become a meditation on what has brought America to this point. The second half is the American fully staged premiere of George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill, the first operatic masterpiece of the 21st century, which sets the story of the Pied Piper as an indictment of societies that send away migrant populations and refuse to pay for the arts — they lose their children, their souls. This is how IN Series marks the anniversary of our country, in ways which we hope move beyond ceremony and pomp and towards meaningful reflection and contemplation.

EK: Something caught my eye on the Revada Arts Center website: IN Series, Theater Alliance and 4EYE Film Center are cited not as “partners”, but “core partners”. That “core” seems to me to have implications that I find quite exciting: it suggests that these organizations are central, but that the partnerships will extend beyond just three institutions. Can you tell us more about that? And now that this new arts hub is a reality (complete with ribbon cutting and a launch weekend, October 23–27), has your own vision grown and deepened for what kinds of partnerships and possibilities lie ahead for IN Series?

TN: The new center has three core partners, and we look forward to sharing resources and knowledge, but also programming in conversation with each other to actively create deeper and deeper context to our work. Additionally, with three very distinct audiences, we look forward to opportunities for these audiences to mix and meld together. There will be other partners that use the space with a lower level of commitment, but with an equally shared set of values and priorities. We aren’t quite ready yet to announce those partnerships, but we will be soon. And then the space is available for community use, additional artistic experiences, co-working, and shared hospitality.

EK: A development — related or not to this new arts hub coming into existence now, I’m not so sure, but I suspect so — that I also find really exciting is how IN Series continues to expand its geographic scope: in addition to performances in the DMV, not only at the Revada Arts Center but, for instance, your recent debut at Arena Stage, you’re continuing to partner with the Baltimore Theater Project for performances there (that’s where I saw your opera The Song of Sakuntala); the stagings of The Triumph of F.A.U.V.E.L. — An Ass! — which is, among other things, a collaboration with the Brooklyn-based medieval music ensemble Alkemie — will include a performance in New York. Do you envision having an established home base at the Revada Arts Center as an opportunity for continuing this kind of growth?

TN: We believe in the total uniqueness of IN Series work, certainly in DC and the area, but also nationally and even internationally. My dream for as long as I can remember is to have a company with a stable of regular artists that tours a body of work throughout the world. Partnering is also central to our identity, so being able to create work with Alkemie and then perform in New York is a step along that journey, and just the beginning as this is intentional and part of our long term strategic vision.

EK: As the conversation between you and me has unfolded over the past year, both of us have faced this development with great anticipation, but now that it’s real, have any of your views changed? Do you foresee possibilities for the 2027–28 season (and beyond) for IN Series that you haven’t before? And/or: do you find renewed courage and/or ongoing challenges as you think about what’s going to be possible for IN Series?

TN: I think being forced to wear an administrative hat was well as an artistic hat keeps me honest and balanced. I’m always seeing opportunities in challenges, and risks in possible rewards, both ways. It’s a sort of vigilant optimism that is fundamental to my world view as an artist and a person. New ideas have emerged and old ideas have evolved or even placed on hold for the moment, only to emerge when their time has come. Overall, however, the sense of true possibility this moment holds hasn’t dampened at all and we’re all incredibly eager to wander somewhat with a sense of where we are going, and somewhat enjoying being a little lost, towards the future.