Atlanta Opera
Atlanta Opera is an opera company based in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Founded in 1979, the company produces four mainstage opera productions each season at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, its primary performance venue since 2007. It also presents smaller-scale productions and operates education, artist-development, film, and new-works programs.
Tomer Zvulun has served as the company's general and artistic director since 2013. Under his leadership, Atlanta Opera launched its Discoveries series, Studio Artists program, Film Studio, and 96-Hour Opera Project.
In 2024, Opera America placed Atlanta Opera among the 10 largest opera companies in the United States[1] after its annual operating budget reached $15 million. In 2026, the company began construction on the Molly Blank Center for Opera and the Arts,[2] scheduled to open late 2027 as its permanent administrative and artistic home with performance, rehearsal, education, and office spaces.
Between 2023 and 2026, Atlanta Opera presented the four operas of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen individually over four seasons, concluding with Götterdämmerung. The company plans to present the four operas together as two complete cycles during The Atlanta Opera Ring Festival in June 2029[3].
History
[edit]In the late 1970s, the Metropolitan Opera stopped touring to Atlanta, leaving a void in the region. Volunteers and civic leaders joined forces to continue opera in Atlanta. In 1979, the Atlanta Civic Opera was formed, a result of a merger between two competing entities, Atlanta Lyric Opera and Georgia Opera.
The first artistic director was composer Thomas Pasatieri. In 1985, the company was renamed to The Atlanta Opera. The company's first production was La traviata on March 28, 1980, at the Fox Theatre. The following December, a festive gala was held in Symphony Hall with such noted young artists as Catherine Malfitano, Jerry Hadley and Samuel Ramey.
Atlanta Opera has a number of home venues: in 1990 it moved to the Atlanta Symphony Hall, in 1995 to the Fox Theatre, in 1998 to its own building, the Atlanta Opera Center at 728 West Peachtree St., in 2003 to the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center,[4] and finally in 2007, the company moved into its new performance home at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, just outside the city and county limits.
The company celebrated its 30-year anniversary during the 2009/2010 season. The current music director and conductor is Arthur Fagen, professor of music (orchestral conducting) at Indiana University. In 2013 the company hired the internationally recognized stage director, Tomer Zvulun to be its general and artistic director. Zvulun directed over 15 new productions in Atlanta, including Dead Man Walking, The Flying Dutchman, Soldier Songs by David T. Little, Silent Night, María de Buenos Aires, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor, The Magic Flute, Eugene Onegin. The company's innovation initiatives garnered national attention and resulted in a Harvard Business School case study, an International Opera Awards nomination and an ArtsATL luminary award. The company celebrates its 40th anniversary in the 2019/2020 season and is performing six productions per season.
See also
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References
[edit]- ↑ "The Atlanta Opera Reaches Landmark Top 10 Status of American Companies". artsatl.org. December 22, 2023.
- ↑ "A $64 Million Opera House Is Rising on the Beltline in Buckhead — Here's What's Coming". Buckhead.com. February 19, 2026.
- ↑ "The Atlanta Opera Announces Ring Festival 2029". OperaWire.com. June 1, 2026.
- ↑ "Our History". Atlanta Opera. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Atlanta Opera at Wikimedia Commons- Official website
- "The Atlanta Opera", Encore Magazine, the official show program of Atlanta Opera
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