Opera Philadelphia is an American opera company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the company i sthe only artistic company in Philadelphia that produces grand opera. The company produces one festival in September (Festival O) and additional operas in the spring season, encompassing works from the 17th through the 21st century. [1] The company stages productions at Academy of Music in Philadelphia.
The Opera Company of Philadelphia was established in 1975 with the merger of the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company (PLOC) and the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company (PGOC); two organizations which had competed with one another for many years. [2] Adele W. Paxson, who headed the PLOC, was appointed the first president of the company's board, a position she held for many years. Max Leon, conductor and general manager of the PGOC, became the company's first general manager, and Carl Suppa became the company's first artistic director. All three individuals were largely responsible for arranging, planning, and executing the merger. [3] In 1976 the company presented the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Hero . [4]
At the end of the 1977–1978 season both Leon and Suppa left the company. As a result, J. Edward Corn was appointed the company's second general manager; subsequently Julius Rudel became an artistic consultant for the company. [5] In 1980, Corn left the company to become the director of the National Endowment for the Arts' new opera and musical theater program. [6] Margaret Anne Everett, the OCP's director of educational and community services since 1977, was initially appointed the company's acting manager and then officially became the company's third general manager. She remained in that position for fourteen years. [2] [7]
In March 1990, Everett resigned from her post. Jane Grey Nemeth, director of the OCP's Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition at the time, became the company's acting general director. In January 1991, the company named Robert B. Driver its general director. [8] In March 2009, the company announced the return of Driver to the post of artistic director, and the appointment of David B. Devan, OCP's managing director since January 2006, as the OCP's executive director. [9] Devan was appointed general director in February 2011. [10] Devan announced that he will step down in June 2024. [11]
In 2013, the company renamed itself Opera Philadelphia and adopted a new logo. [12] In August 2023, the company announced that Devan is to stand down as its general director and president on 31 May 2024, along with staff and expense reductions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] In April 2024, the company announced the appointment of Anthony Roth Costanzo as its next general director and president, effective 1 June 2024. [14] [15] [16]
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, numbering over 130 annually, at Verizon Hall.
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as the general manager. The company's music director has been Yannick Nézet-Séguin since 2018.
The Dallas Opera is an American opera company located in Dallas, Texas. The company performs at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, one venue of the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in musical theatre.
Christoph Eschenbach is a German pianist and conductor.
Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski, is a Russian conductor resident in Germany. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski.
Rose Bampton was an American opera singer who had an active international career during the 1930s and 1940s. She began her professional career performing mostly minor roles from the mezzo-soprano repertoire in 1929 but later switched to singing primarily leading soprano roles in 1937 until her retirement from the opera stage in 1963.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC is a Canadian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Orchestre Métropolitain (Montréal), the Metropolitan Opera, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was the principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra from 2008 to 2018.
The Luminato Festival, Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, is an annual celebration of the arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, launched in 2007. In its first decade, Luminato presented over 3,000 performances featuring 11,000 artists from over 40 countries and has commissioned over 80 new works of art.
Daniele Barioni was an Italian opera singer who had a prolific career during the 1950s through the 1970s. Early on in his career he rose to fame as a leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera between 1956 and 1962. Afterwards he worked primarily in opera houses and concerts throughout the United States, although he did make numerous appearances in both Europe and South America as well. Barioni was particularly associated with the operas of Giacomo Puccini and the roles of Turiddu in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Alfredo in Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata.
The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and best known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company and the Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company. That company in turn merged with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company in 1975 to form the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Of the three earlier companies, only one lasted beyond one season; a company founded in 1926 which later became associated with the Curtis Institute of Music in 1929. That company closed its doors in 1932 due to financial reasons during the Great Depression.
The Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company (PCGOC) was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1950 and 1955. Fausta Cleva served as the company's first General Director and conductor, and Chevalier L. Jackson was the governing board's first president. The company's first performance was of Camille Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila on January 24, 1950, with Giovanni Martinelli as Samson, Blanche Thebom as Dalila, Martial Singher as The High Priest of Dagon, and John Lawler as Abimélech. Other operas presented that season were Cavalleria rusticana, L'amico Fritz, and Carmen.
The Philadelphia La Scala Opera Company (defunct) was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1925 and 1954. In 1955 the company merged with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company to form the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company.
Carlo Moresco was an American conductor, composer, violinist, and stage director of Italian birth. He was one of the most important opera conductors in the city of Philadelphia during the 20th century, working for multiple opera companies in that city. He also held conducting posts with companies in Connecticut and at the Tulsa Opera.
Franco Gentilesca was an American stage director who was particularly active in staging operas.
The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisation in the country, it is currently resident at the Oslo Opera House, since the spring of 2008.
Matthew Aucoin is an American composer, conductor, pianist, and writer best known for his operas. Aucoin has received commissions from the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the American Repertory Theater, the Peabody Essex Museum, Harvard University, and NPR's This American Life. He was appointed as Los Angeles Opera's first-ever Artist-in-Residence in 2016. He is a 2018 MacArthur Fellow.
Anthony Roth Costanzo is an American countertenor. He began his career in musical theatre at the age of 11. Costanzo is a graduate of Princeton University and of the Manhattan School of Music.. In 2012, he won first place at the Operalia competition. In 2009, he was a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He has been an actor in film and a producer and curator. He is the designated general director and president of Opera Philadelphia.
This article lists major events and other topics related to the year 2017 in classical music.
This article lists major events and other topics related to classical music in 2018.
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