Opera Philadelphia (prior to 2013 Opera Company of Philadelphia (OCP)) 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 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...

and is the city's only company producing

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

. The organization produces one festival in September (Festival O) and additional operas in the spring season, encompassing works from the 17th through the 21st century. The famed Academy of Music, the oldest opera house to be continuously in use for its original purpose within the United States, is currently the venue for three of the company's performances. The company is led by David Devan, who was appointed general director in 2011.

History

The Opera Company of Philadelphia was established in 1975 with the merger of the

Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani ...

(PLOC) and the

Philadelphia Grand Opera Company The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and best known of the four was founded in November 195 ...

(PGOC); two organizations which had competed with one another for many years.

Adele W. Paxson Adele Warden Paxson (1913 – December 27, 2000) was an American socialite, philanthropist, conservationist, and a champion breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. Born Adele Corning Warden, she was the daughter of Helen Corning and her husband Clar ...

, who headed the PLOC, was appointed the first president of the company's board, a position she held for many years. Max Leon, conductor and general manager of the PGOC, became the company's first general manager, and Carl Suppa became the company's first artistic director. All three individuals were largely responsible for arranging, planning, and executing the merger. In 1976 the company presented the world premiere of

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...

's '' The Hero''. At the end of the 1977–1978 season both Leon and Suppa left the company. As a result, J. Edward Corn was appointed the company's second general manager; subsequently

Julius Rudel Julius Rudel (6 March 1921 – 26 June 2014) was an Austrian-born American opera and orchestra conductor. He was born in Vienna and was a student at the city's Academy of Music. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 17 in 1938 after t ...

became an artistic consultant for the company. In 1980, Corn left the company to become the director of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

' new opera and musical theater program. Margaret Anne Everett, the OCP's director of educational and community services since 1977, was initially appointed the company's acting manager and then officially became the company's third general manager. She remained in that position for fourteen years. In March 1990 Everett resigned from her post and Jane Grey Nemeth, the then director of the OCP's Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, became the company's acting general director. In January 1991 the company named Robert B. Driver its general director. The company's management structure has changed several times during Driver's time with the company, he previously served as the title artistic director from 2000 to 2004 and general and artistic director from 2004 to 2009. On March 31, 2009 it was announced that Driver would return to the post of artistic director, and David B. Devan, the OCP's managing director since January 2006, would serve as the OCP's executive director. Devan was appointed general director in February 2011. In 2013 the OCP renamed itself ''Opera Philadelphia'' and adopted a new logo.

References

Notes

Other sources

*David Patrick Stearns
"The Philadelphia Story: Things are looking up, operatically speaking, in the City of Brotherly Love"
''Opera News'' (New York), Vol. 78, No. 9, March 2014

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Opera Company Of Philadelphia Musical groups established in 1975 Culture of Philadelphia

Musical groups from Philadelphia 1975 establishments in Pennsylvania