Cincinnati Opera
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The Cincinnati Opera is the second oldest opera company in the U.S., founded in 1920.
For more than fifty years, the Opera performed at the Cincinnati Zoo Pavilion and, at its peak, offered 18 productions of over 61 performances in a ten-week season. During the Zoo years, a number of famous opera singers frequented the stage: Jan Peerce, Robert Merrill, Roberta Peters, Shirley Verrett, Lawrence Tibbett, Richard Tucker, Martina Arroyo, and a very young Placido Domingo. In addition to the artists, patrons who experienced opera at the Zoo observed the sounds of sea lions and peacocks joining the chorus, and the occasional creature waddling up and down the rows of seats.
In 1972, Cincinnati Opera moved from the Zoo Pavilion to Music Hall. This move signaled production and artistic changes, and new sets became an immediate focus because of the larger stage. The fourth largest hall in the United States, Music Hall is known as “The Grand Dame of Elm Street,” and is a National Historic Landmark.
On January 13, 2005, Cincinnati Opera raised the curtain on the 4-story Corbett Opera Center, its new headquarters in the north wing of Music Hall. The $4 million project consisted of a complete renovation of the north wing of Music Hall to accommodate the Opera’s administrative and production teams, and to allow for more rehearsal space. The Center is named in honor of longtime Cincinnati Opera patrons J. Ralph and Patricia Corbett and The Corbett Foundation, which provided a $1.5 million lead grant for the project.
The 2007 season marks the 87th Summer Festival and the 35th anniversary of Cincinnati Opera’s move to Music Hall. Artistic Director Evans Mirageas begins his second full season with the company. In August 2006, Opera News named Mirageas one of the 25 Most Powerful Names in U.S. Opera.
