The Knoxville Opera is an American opera company based in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1978 as the Knoxville Civic Opera by Edward Zambara, 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 Brian Salesky is an American conductor of operatic and orchestral music. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University, he also studied at The Juilliard School. In the fall of 1978, Salesky first appeared at the New York City Opera, conduct ...

who has served in the position since 2005. The 1978 inaugural performance of ''

La Traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'' included opera stars

Delores Ziegler Delores Ziegler (born 4 September 1951) is an American mezzo-soprano who has had an active international performance career since the late 1970s. A former resident artist at the Cologne Opera, she has performed leading roles with many of the world ...

and Knoxville native Mary Costa, who garnered fame for creating the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney film '' Sleeping Beauty''. Notable appearances with the company include gala performances by

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

, Marilyn Horne,

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, in addition to leading roles performed by Rosalind Elias,

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, the latter having directed more than twenty-five operas with the company beginning with ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' in 1996. Freeman also served as Artistic Director of the Knoxville Opera Studio at the University of Tennessee, a training program whose members often perform supporting roles with Knoxville Opera as part of their studies. The company performs at the

Tennessee Theatre The Tennessee Theatre is a movie palace in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The theater was built in 1928 in the 1908 Burwell Building, considered Knoxville's first skyscraper. The theater and Burwell Building were added to the National Register ...

. 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