Regional Opera Company of the Week: Dallas Opera

More than half a century of artistic excellence and community engagement has earned The Dallas Opera a major role in shaping the national/international cultural reputation of Dallas. TDO has also made-and continues to make-an important contribution to the economic impact of the performing arts in North Texas.

The Dallas Opera has presented many international stars in their American debuts, including Dame Joan Sutherland, Jon Vickers and Plácido Domingo,as well as director-designer Franco Zeffirelli.

A champion of new work, The Dallas Opera has presented the American premieres of five operas and additional world premieres. Most recently, the company commissioned composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer to create a highly-critically-acclaimed new opera based on Herman Melville's 19th-century novel, Moby-Dick (April 2010), and a new song cycle, A Question of Light (premiered in April 2011), inspired by artworks on display at the Dallas Museum of Art. TDO has also commissioned exciting new operas for upcoming seasons from Jake Heggie and Tony Award-winning librettist Terrence McNally, Great Scott, for mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, as well as from British composer Joby Talbot and librettist Gene Scheer, who will collaborate on a one-act, Everest.

The company's commitment to outstanding opera of every era is reflected inGeneral Director and CEO Keith Cerny's decision to launch a dedicated chamber series with an all-new production of Peter Maxwell Davies' haunting 1980 masterpiece, The Lighthouse. Conducted by Nicole Paiement, only the second woman to take the podium at TDO, and staged by Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty in his opera debut, the production sparked major buzz and critical accolades.

Our renewed commitment to children and families resulted in the creation ofseveral new education programs; a new production of Georges Bizet's charmingDoctor Miracle, newly translated into English and staged in partnership withDallas Children's Theater; and a soon-to-be-unveiled opera version of Jack and the Beanstalk. Altogether, our education initiatives touched the lives of more than 27,000 this year alone.

The Dallas Opera inaugurated mainstage performances in the Foster + Partners-designed Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in October of 2009 with a new production of Verdi's Otello and offered its first free public simulcast the following season. Once simulcasts became the new standard on Opening Night, the Dallas Opera expanded its outreach beyond the Arts District to serve around 15,000 people who streamed into Cowboys Stadium in Arlington last April for a Texas-record-setting simulcast of Mozart's The Magic Flute.

The event ended in an enthusiastic standing ovation, and the performing arts in Dallas will never be the same.

The 2012-2013 Season is far from over at Dallas Opera. Dominick Argento's THE ASPERN PAPERS is currently on stage thru April 28. From October 26 thru November 11, Verdi's AIDA will be presented with Latonia Moore in the title role. The 2013-2014 season will see CARMEN, DEATH AND THE POWERS, DIE TOTE STADT, and Rossini's THE BARBER OF SEVILLE take the stage. For a closer look at the new, upcoming production season, click here.

For more information on the Dallas Opera, visit http://dallasopera.org/

Phot credit: Karen Almond Photography