Opera Maine - formally PORTopera - is a professional opera company founded in 1994 by [a group of opera lovers including Bruce Hangen, Jack Riddle, Russ Burleigh, Dona D. Vaughn and others.] and based in Portland, Maine, although some of its productions travel within the state. Its name derives from "Portland Opera Repertory Theatre" (PORT). The principal company presents one, or occasionally up to three, operas each summer, and its adjunct Maine Emerging Artists Young Artists Program, founded in 1996, generally presents one more on a smaller scale.
Hangen served as PORTopera's Artistic Director until 2002; his successor, Dona D. Vaughn, has held that position ever since. The company made its home at Portland's State Theater until moving to Merrill Auditorium in 1997. Besides Hangen, who before founding the company had led the Portland and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, conductors who have worked with PORTopera include guests Giovanni Reggioli and Stephen Lord and present conductor Robert Moody. Among singers who have performed with the company are New Englanders Mary Dunleavy and Kate Aldrich; the latter, who appeared in the title role of Bizet's Carmen in 2005, was the first Maine native to fill a principal role in one of the company's major productions.
The company's initial offering, in July 1995, was a production of Carmen with Donna Ames and Adam Klein as Carmen and Don José. [1] However, since then, PORTopera has presented relatively little French opera, concentrating instead on Italian literature, including three operas in Italian by Mozart. From the German repertoire, PORTopera has offered only Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor, and its sole offering by a composer associated with America was Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium, both performed at the Merill Auditorium in 2000. The Young Artists have presented two rarities to punctuate a list of otherwise predominantly standard repertoire works: Bizet's Dr. Miracle in 2002 and Mozart's L'Oca del Cairo in 2006. [2]
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent at the Arts Centre Melbourne, where it is accompanied by Orchestra Victoria. In 2004, the company gave 226 performances in its subscription seasons in Sydney and Melbourne, Victoria, attended by more than 294,000 people.
Ileana Cotrubaș is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.
The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, which was purpose-built for opera and ballet and is shared with the National Ballet of Canada. For forty years until April 2006, the COC had performed at the O'Keefe Centre.
Opera San José is an American opera company founded in 1984 by Irene Dalis (1925-2014) based in San Jose, California.
Hasmik Papian is an Armenian soprano. She was awarded the People's Artist of Armenia title in 2004. Papian was named a Cultural ambassador of Armenia in the World for her contributions to Armenian culture in 2005 by the Catholicos of the Holy See of St. Echmiadzin and All Armenians Karekin II and awarded the Order of Saint Sahag and Saint Mesrob and Order of Saint Mesrop Mashtots.
Jean-François Lapointe is a Canadian baritone opera singer.
Leeds Youth Opera is an opera company whose performers are aged 12 to 25, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The Yorkshire Post described the group as a "national cultural treasure".
Union Avenue Opera is an opera company based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded in 1994 by Scott Schoonover, the music director of Union Avenue Christian Church, which serves as the company's venue in St. Louis' Visitation Park neighborhood.
Mary Dunleavy is an American soprano who has performed with major opera companies and orchestras around the world.
Gabriel Bacquier was a French operatic baritone. One of the leading baritones of the 20th century and particularly associated with the French and Italian repertoires, he was considered a fine singing actor equally at home in dramatic or comic roles and gave regular song recitals. He was a long-term member of the Opéra-Comique and the Paris Opera, but forged a long career internationally at leading opera houses in Europe and the U.S. His large discography spans five decades, and he was considered as “the ambassador of French song”.
Melbourne Opera was founded in 2002 as a charitable not-for-profit company dedicated to producing opera and associated art forms in Melbourne, Australia. With philanthropic assistance it has also toured to outer-suburban and regional Victorian theatres, as well as to Canberra and Hobart interstate. Despite receiving no government funding since its foundation, the company mounts between three and five main stage productions each year. Its principal rehearsal and performance home is the Athenaeum Theatre.
Isobel Buchanan is a Scottish operatic soprano.
Lívia Ághová is a Slovak opera singer. She has been a principal soprano at the National Theatre in Prague since 1988. Her career has also taken her to many of the best opera houses and concert halls in North America and Europe. She has sung in numerous opera and concert recordings with such labels as Chandos, ORFEO, and Supraphon.
Asheville Lyric Opera (ALO) is a professional, non-profit opera company located in Asheville, North Carolina. Its repertoire encompasses styles ranging from the comedies of Mozart and Rossini to the classic Verdi and Puccini dramas as well as classic musical theatre works. Founder David Craig Starkey served as General and Artistic Director until 2016. The 500-seat Diana Wortham Theatre, built in 1991, has been the company's home since 2001. ALO is a member of Opera America. Dean Anthony was announced as the company's new Artistic and Producing Direction beginning with the 2019/2020 Season.
Constantinos Carydis is a Greek conductor, born in Athens in 1974 and active in both the symphonic and operatic repertories. He won the 2011 Carlos Kleiber Prize, bestowed by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, with Kent Nagano and Mariss Jansons among the judges.
Les Musiciens du Louvre is a French period instrument ensemble, formed in 1982. Originally based in Paris, since 1996 it has been based in the Couvent des Minimes in Grenoble. The Guardian considers it one of the best orchestras in the world.
The Australian Contemporary Opera Company (ACOCo) is a not-for-profit contemporary opera company, based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was formerly known as "Gertrude Opera".
Hanan Alattar is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international career in concerts and in operas since the early 2000s. She has performed with many leading opera companies and orchestras in the United States and Europe, collaborating with such notable conductors as Plácido Domingo, James Conlon and Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
Javid Samadov is an Azerbaijani baritone opera singer, who currently resides in Nuremberg, Germany.
Opera Columbus is an American professional opera company in Columbus, Ohio, founded in 1981, and is a member of Opera America. OC employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalists, artisans, stagehands, costumers, and scenic designers—many of whom are members of the Columbus community.