Portland 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 at The Hampton Opera Center in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Its performances take place in the

Keller Auditorium Keller Auditorium, formerly known as the Portland Municipal Auditorium, the Portland Public Auditorium, and the Portland Civic Auditorium, is a performing arts center located on Clay Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part ...

and Newmark Theatre, both part of the

Portland Center for the Performing Arts Portland's Centers for the Arts (stylized as Portland'5 Centers for the Arts), formerly known as the Portland Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA), is an organization within Metro that runs venues for live theatre, concerts, cinema, small confer ...

. Portland Opera also produces a separate subscription series of touring Broadway musicals, which also take place at the Keller Auditorium.

History

Hampton Opera Center wide - Portland, Oregon

Portland Opera was founded as the Portland Opera Association in 1964 by the conductor Henry Holt. Its first performance was

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually re ...

' ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original ...

'', the only opera presented that season. Holt served as the company's General Director for the first two years of existence. The next General Director post was the Austrian conductor Herbert Weiskopf, who died of a heart attack in March 1970 after conducting a performance of ''

Lucia di Lammermoor ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...

''. The conductor Stefan Minde then took over as General Director and served until 1984, followed by Robert Bailey, a stage director, and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

's first Director of Culture Programming, who served until 2003. Stage Director Christopher Mattaliano succeeded Robert Bailey as General Director in 2003 and served through 2019. The current General Director is Susan (Sue) Dixon, who was appointed in October 2019, and is the first female general director in the opera's 56 year history. The most recent Music Director was George Manahan, who held the post from 2012 to 2021. In September 2021, the company announced the appointment of Damien Geter as its interim music director, with immediate effect. Portland Opera was one of the first opera companies to introduce surtitles in its productions, and has presented several world and US premieres. In October 2014, the company announced changes in the format of its productions, by presenting some productions in the Keller Auditorium and others as a part of a summer festival format, with three operas produced in the Newmark Theatre. As part of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Portland Opera Association received $1 million in federally backed small business loan from

First Republic Bank First Republic Bank is an American full-service bank and wealth management company offering personal banking, business banking, trust, and wealth management services, catering to low-risk, high net-worth clientele, and focusing on providing pe ...

as part of the

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the Donald Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES A ...

. The opera stated it would allow them to retain 73 jobs.

Premieres

Portland Opera's premiere performances include: *

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely re ...

: ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...

'' (1982, world premiere of an abridged version) * Christopher Drobny: ''Lucy's Lapses'' (1990, world premiere) *

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...

: '' Le marchand de Venise'' (The Merchant of Venice) (1996, US premiere) *

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

: ''A View from the Bridge'' (2003,

US West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

premiere)Van Allen (January 17, 2002)

References

Notes Sources *Campbell, Ruth M.
"Portland Opera's 'Lucy's Lapses' is Promising Despite Giddiness"
''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'', May 3, 1990. Accessed 29 September 2009. *Campbell, Ruth M.
"Portland Opera Goes Out on a Limb Presenting Merchant of Venice"
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', November 4, 1996. Accessed via subscription 29 September 2009.

''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', March 23, 1970, p. 41. *Kellow, Brian
"Portland's Progress"
'' Opera News'', November 1996. Accessed via subscription 29 September 2009. *Norberg, Eric
"An Inner Southeast “crown jewel” — the Portland Opera"
''Portland Bee'', October 31, 2007. Accessed 29 September 2009. *Stabler, David

''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

, July 14, 2009. Accessed 29 September 2009. *Van Allen, Angela
"Portland Opera Set for Diverse new Season"
''

The Columbian ''The Columbian'' is a daily newspaper serving the Vancouver, Washington, and Clark County, Washington area. The paper was published for its first decade (1890–1900) as a four-page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republi ...

'', January 17, 2002. Accessed via subscription 29 September 2009.

External links

* {{authority control 1964 establishments in Oregon American opera companies Music of Portland, Oregon Musical groups established in 1964 Performing arts in Oregon