Bay Area opera companies from startups to established
Bay Area opera companies from startups to established
With its multimillion-dollar budget and access to the world’s biggest stars, the San Francisco Opera will always be the Bay Area’s pre-eminent purveyor of opera.
In addition to West Edge Opera, here are some of the other local operatic outfits, some of them boasting venerable pedigrees, some of them scrappy startups newly arrived on the scene.
Ars Minerva: A new undertaking begun by soprano Céline Ricci to champion little-known early works. www.arsminerva.org
An indispensable company in Walnut Creek that celebrates its 25th anniversary in August with a “Star Trek”-themed production of Mozart’s “Abduction From the Seraglio.” www.festivalopera.org
Founded in 2007 by David and Barbara Sloss (formerly of West Bay Opera), the company gives semistaged productions of mostly standard repertoire. www.fremontopera.org
Goat Hall Productions: A showcase for contemporary opera, often by local composers. www.goat-hall.org
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Nicole Paiement, this company has become one of the area’s most reliably fine homes for contemporary opera. https://operaparallele.org
The brainchild of the late, great Irene Dalis, the company offers a mixture of new and standard works performed by its company of young resident artists. www.operasj.org
Opera Theater Unlimited: A year-old startup with resourceful productions of Britten and Monteverdi under its belt. www.operatheaterunlimited.com
With its roots in the heyday of San Francisco’s North Beach, Donald Pippin’s 39-year-old landmark is a showcase for local talents and for Pippin’s witty, cogent English translations. www.pocketopera.org