Arizona Opera

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Arizona Opera is an opera company which operates in both Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona.

Arizona Opera was established in 1971 as the Tucson Opera Company, under founding general director James P. Sullivan, and presented its first production, of Rossini's The Barber of Seville, in 1972. By 1975 the company had expanded to include performances in both Tucson and Phoenix. Arizona Opera maintains offices in both cities, and a facility for production (set construction, wardrobe, and properties) and rehearsal in Tucson. The company has a subscriber base of over 10,000 drawn from the two metropolitan areas, and an annual budget of $5.5 million.

The appointment of Glynn Ross as general director in 1983 initiated a period of growth during which the company expanded its season from three to five productions. In 1996 and 1998 the company gained notice by staging Wagner's Ring Cycle as a summer festival in Flagstaff, Arizona. Ross retired in 1998 and was succeeded by David Speers, who enhanced the quality of the company's productions by increasing spending on rehearsals, chorus, and orchestra, and under whose leadership subscriptions and single-ticket sales markedly increased. In addition to the company's regular productions, Speers brought noted singers Samuel Ramey, Kiri Te Kanawa, Denyce Graves, and Jerry Hadley to Arizona for recital performances.

During the 2000-2001 season, the company appointed its first Principal Conductor, Cal Stewart Kellogg (now director of the Mesa Symphony), and established the Arizona Opera Orchestra, made up of professional, Arizona-based musicians.

Speers left the company in 2003 and was succeeded by Joel Revzen, a Juilliard-trained musician and conductor and experienced music-organization administrator. Revzen is continuing Speers' practice of mixing standard repertory with occasional productions of less-often-performed works, e.g., Menotti's The Consul, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera, and Handel's Semele.

Arizona Opera offers seven performances of each of its five productions per season, with four performances at Phoenix Symphony Hall (2,387 seats and the recipient of $18.5 million in renovations during 2004-5) and three at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall (2,277 seats).