The Kentucky Opera is an American

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

company based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. The company is resident at the

Brown Theatre The W. L. Lyons Brown Theatre, originally called the Brown Theatre, is a restored theatre dating back to 1925 that seats approximately 1,400 patrons in Louisville, Kentucky. It is ones of three venues owned by Kentucky Performing Arts. History T ...

, as part of

Kentucky Performing Arts Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. The

Louisville Orchestra The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney (1904–1986) and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville. The Louisville Orchestra employs salaried musicians, and offers a wide ...

is the accompanying orchestra for the company. Moritz von Bomhard founded the company in 1952 as the State Opera of Kentucky. The company performed in the Columbia Auditorium until 1964, when they moved to the Macauley Theater (now called the Brown Theatre). Bomhard served as general director of the company until his 1982 retirement. Thomson Smillie succeeded Bomhard as general director, and during his tenure, the company began to give some performances at Whitney Hall in 1984. Smillie was general director until 1997. In 1998, Deborah Sandler became the company's general director. During her tenure, the company moved all of its productions to Whitney Hall. In January 2006, the company announced David Roth as its next general director. Roth served in the post until his July 2015 death in a car accident. Following interim leadership by William Blodgett, in 2016, Ian Derrer became the company's general director. Barbara Lynne Jamison was named general director in 2018.

References

External links

Official website of Kentucky OperaKentucky Opera Association records
from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

Archives and Records Center
Information
from KET {{authority control Musical groups established in 1952 Arts organizations based in Louisville, Kentucky American opera companies Performing arts in Kentucky Music of Louisville, Kentucky 1952 establishments in Kentucky