The Knoxville Opera is an American

opera company 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 libretti ...

based in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

. It was founded in 1978 as the Knoxville Civic Opera by

Edward Zambara Edward Zambara (1926 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – August 7, 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA) was a Canadian-American bass-baritone singer and leading music educator. Training He studied opera with Boris Goldovsky and Sarah Caldw ...

, who served as Artistic Director until 1981. The company changed its name and became an entirely professional opera company in 1983. Since 1981 the company has had three General Directors who also served as the Principal Conductor; Robert Lyall who served from 1982-1999, Francis Graffeo from 2000-2005, and Brian Salesky who has served in the position since 2005. The 1978 inaugural performance of '' La Traviata'' included opera stars Delores Ziegler and Knoxville native

Mary Costa Mary Costa (born April 5, 1930) is an American retired actress and singer. Her most notable film credit is providing the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney animated film ''Sleeping Beauty'', of which she is the last surviving original vo ...

, who garnered fame for creating the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

''. Notable appearances with the company include gala performances by Luciano Pavarotti,

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

Cheryl Studer Cheryl Studer (born October 24, 1955) is an American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's foremost opera houses. Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated ...

and

Catherine Malfitano Catherine Malfitano (born April 18, 1948) is an American operatic soprano and opera director. Malfitano was born in New York City, the daughter of a ballet dancer mother, Maria Maslova, and a violinist father, Joseph Malfitano. She attended the ...

, in addition to leading roles performed by

Rosalind Elias Rosalind Elias (March 13, 1930 – May 3, 2020) was an American mezzo-soprano who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera. She was best known for creating the role of Erika in Samuel Barber's '' Vanessa in'' 1958. Early ...

Mary Dunleavy Mary Dunleavy (born 1966) is an American soprano who has performed with major opera companies and orchestras around the world. Life and career Dunleavy grew up in Montvale, New JerseyShengold, David"Focused on Her Game; OCP favorite Mary Dunleavy ...

Enrico Di Giuseppe Enrico Di Giuseppe (October 14, 1932 – December 31, 2005) was a celebrated American operatic tenor who had an active performance career from the late 1950s through the 1990s. He spent most of his career performing in New York City, juggling ...

, and

Faith Esham Faith Esham (born August 6, 1948) is an American soprano and college professor of voice. Life and career Faith Lou Esham was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, and grew up in Vanceburg, Kentucky, the daughter of Dr. Elwood Esham (1905-1985) and Ruth Lo ...

. Directors who have appeared regularly with the company include James Marvel and

Carroll Freeman Carroll Freeman is an American operatic tenor, opera director, and music educator. He began his career as a prominent boy soprano in the 1960s. From the late 1970s through the mid 1990s he performed widely as a tenor with opera companies and orche ...

, the latter having directed more than twenty-five operas with the company beginning with '' The Marriage of Figaro'' in 1996. Freeman also served as Artistic Director of the Knoxville Opera Studio at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

, a training program whose members often perform supporting roles with Knoxville Opera as part of their studies. The company performs at the Tennessee Theatre. In 2011, the company celebrated the Tenth Anniversary of their Rossini Festival and Italian Street Fair in downtown Knoxville. In addition to food and crafts, the festival offers free open-air performances by members of the Knoxville Opera and UT Knoxville Opera Studio, drawing as many as 35,000 people. In 2015 the company was the subject of national attention regarding a controversy over physical appearance in opera hiring practices. Knoxville Opera celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2018 and plans to stage Nkeiru Okoye's opera ''Harriet Tubman'' in a 2020 revival of the 2014

American Opera Projects The American Opera Project (AOP) is a professional opera company based in Brooklyn, New York City, and is a member of Opera America, the Fort Greene Association, the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance, and the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A. ...

production.

References

External links

* {{authority control Culture of Knoxville, Tennessee American opera companies Musical groups established in 1978 Performing arts in Tennessee 1978 establishments in Tennessee

See also

References

External links