Opera San José facts for kids

The California Theatre in 2008, where Opera San José performs.

Opera San José is an American opera company. It was started in 1984 by Irene Dalis in San Jose, California. An opera company performs operas, which are plays where the story is told mostly through singing. Opera San José is known for helping young singers grow their careers.

History of Opera San José

Opera San José was founded in 1984. It was started by a famous singer named Irene Dalis. She was a mezzo-soprano, which is a type of female singing voice. Irene Dalis led the company for 30 years until she retired in 2014.

Early Years and New Home

In 1988, the company created a special program. It allowed talented singers to live and perform with the company. This idea was inspired by older European opera companies. Opera San José even bought apartment buildings for these artists to live in for free.

At first, performances were held at the Montgomery Theater. Then, in 2004, the company moved to the beautiful, newly fixed-up California Theatre.

New Leaders and Digital Shows

After Irene Dalis retired, Larry Hancock became the General Director in 2014. He retired in 2019 and was followed by Khori Dastoor. Joseph Marcheso has been the music director since 2014.

In 2021, Khori Dastoor moved to another opera company. Shawna Lucey became the new General Director in January 2022. She is the fourth person to lead Opera San José.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, many shows were canceled. Opera San José found new ways to perform. They created the Heiman Digital Media Studio. This studio allowed them to stream performances online. People could watch operas from their homes.

They performed shows like Dichterliebe and Three Decembers online. They also had virtual New Year's Eve celebrations.

The California Theatre

The California Theatre is a very important place for Opera San José. The company started performing there on September 18, 2004. This theatre has 1,100 seats.

The California Theatre first opened in 1927. It was a place for vaudeville shows and movies. It closed in 1973 but was fixed up almost 30 years later. Today, it is one of the most important performance places in the area.

Resident Artists Program

Opera San José has a special "resident company." This program helps young, talented artists. They are given yearly contracts.

These resident artists get to sing important roles in the main shows. They also help with educational programs in schools and the community. The program helps them get ready for bigger careers in opera. They receive coaching from conductors and directors.

Opera San José's Impact

Opera San José has put on many opera productions. They have presented 150 operas in total. This includes five world premieres, which means these operas were performed for the very first time by Opera San José.

They have also done many educational shows for kids in schools. They have performed over 2,300 shows for K-12 students. For adults, they have done about 3,200 community programs. In their 2018-2019 season, they reached about 113,000 people.

Opera San José gets money from the city of San José. They also receive donations from many groups. These include Applied Materials, Packard Humanities Institute, and the Hewlett Foundation.