The very next year, he first appeared with the New York City Opera, as Dr Falke in Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, opposite Phyllis Curtin.
He was also in the premieres of Robert Kurka's The Good Soldier Schweik (1958), Norman Dello Joio's The Triumph of St. Joan (1959), and Abraham Ellstein's The Golem (1962) for that company.
Ludgin was also a favorite at the San Francisco Opera (SFO) from 1962 to 1985, making his debut with the company as Zurga in Georges Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles with Lee Venora as Leila and Richard Verreau as Nadir.
On November 6, 1976 he sang the role of Lyman Ward in the world premiere of Andrew Imbrie's Angle of Repose (alongside Nancy Shade and Susanne Marsee).
[1] Ludgin's other roles with the SFO included Amonasro in Aida (with Ella Lee in the title role and Jon Vickers as Radames), Barnaba in La Gioconda (with Leyla Gencer), Baron Jaroslav Prus in The Makropoulos Case, Boris Timofeyevich Ismailov in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (opposite Anja Silja), Dikoy in Káťa Kabanová (with Elisabeth Söderström in the title role), Don Fernando in Fidelio (with Birgit Nilsson as Leonore), Friedrich von Telramund in Lohengrin (with Hildegard Hillebrecht as Elsa), Fritz Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (with Claramae Turner as Eva), the Grand Inquisiteur in Don Carlos (with Marilyn Horne as Princess Eboli), Iago in Otello (with James McCracken in the title role and Pilar Lorengar as Desdemona), Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West (with Marie Collier as Minnie), John Proctor to the Elizabeth Proctor of Frances Bible, Krushina in The Bartered Bride (with Mary Costa as Marenka), Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde (with Irene Dalis as Isolde), the Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos (with Reri Grist as Zerbinetta and Jess Thomas as Bacchus), Rodrigo in Lulu (with Evelyn Lear in the title role), Scarpia (with Giulia Barrera as Tosca and Enrico di Giuseppe as Mario Cavaradossi), Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (with Teresa Stratas as Cio-Cio-San), Valentine in Faust (with Richard Verreau in the title role and Arnold Voketaitis as Mephistophélès), Von Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier (with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Leonie Rysanek as the Marschallin) and the title roles in Boris Godunov (with Richard Cassilly as Grigori and Ramón Vinay as Varlaam), Macbeth (with Grace Bumbry as Lady Macbeth), and Rigoletto (with Doris Yarick as Gilda).