Tulsa Opera facts for kids

The Tulsa Opera is an opera company located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It brings beautiful opera performances to the city.

The company started in 1948 as a group of people who loved opera, called the Tulsa Opera Club. By 1953, it became a professional organization. At first, performances were held at the Tulsa Theater, also known as the "Old Lady on Brady." Since 1977, the company has performed at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center (TPAC). Each year, Tulsa Opera puts on three main opera shows. Many famous singers have performed with them, including Beverly Sills, Luciano Pavarotti, and Samuel Ramey. The company also hosts concerts and recitals. Currently, Lori Decter Wright is the general director and CEO, and Aaron Beck is the artistic director.

History of Tulsa Opera

Starting as a Club (1948–1953)

In 1948, five Tulsans who loved music started the Tulsa Opera Club. Their first show was Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata on December 4, 1948. It was performed at All Souls Unitarian Church. A young singer named William Lewis was in this first show.

Maud Lorton Meyers, who owned the Tulsa World newspaper, was very impressed. She offered to help the club financially. In 1949, she joined the company's board of directors. She also bought a house at 1610 South Boulder in downtown Tulsa. This house became the first home for Tulsa Opera. Today, the company's headquarters is still at this address, but in a newer building built in 1975.

At first, the company performed light operas and operettas twice a year. These shows were mostly at Will Rogers High School and featured amateur singers. In 1950, they moved to the "Old Lady on Brady" and started hiring one or two professional singers for each show. One early professional was David Atkinson. Even a young Rue McClanahan, who later became a famous actress, danced in one of their shows called The Prince of Pilsen.

Becoming Professional (1953–1974)

In 1953, the company officially became a professional organization and changed its name to Tulsa Opera. They continued to perform at the Tulsa Theater. From this point on, all the main singing roles were performed by paid professionals. Their first fully professional opera was Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly in November 1953. Anthony Stivanello, a director from New York, directed many of their shows until 1973.

Many well-known singers performed with Tulsa Opera during these years. Some famous names include sopranos Licia Albanese and Dorothy Kirsten, and mezzo-soprano Nell Rankin.

In 1957, George Whitney stepped down as conductor. Tulsa Opera then began hiring professional opera conductors. Giuseppe Bamboschek conducted a very popular show, Il trovatore, in 1959. This performance featured the famous tenor Jussi Björling. In 1959, Carlo Moresco became the artistic director. He conducted all the company's shows for the next sixteen years.

In 1962, during a time when the Metropolitan Opera had a strike, Tulsa Opera was able to get many star singers from the Met. They performed Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The cast included Roberta Peters and Cesare Valletti. Other famous singers who performed under Moresco included sopranos Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills, and Renata Scotto. Tenors like Alfredo Kraus and Richard Tucker also performed.

New Leadership and a New Home (1975–1987)

In 1975, Edward Purrington became the general manager and artistic director. He had worked with the Santa Fe Opera before. His first show was Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto. That year, William Lewis, who grew up in Tulsa and was now a star at the Metropolitan Opera, returned to perform in Tosca.

A big change happened in 1977 when the Tulsa Performing Arts Center (TPAC) was built. Since then, almost all operas have been performed in the Center's Chapman Music Hall. The first opera at the TPAC was Verdi's Aida in November 1977. In 1978, Beverly Sills returned to Tulsa Opera to perform in Bellini's I puritani with Samuel Ramey.

From the 1979–1980 season, Purrington expanded the opera season from two to three shows each year. This tradition continues today. That season included a double show of La Navarraise and Pagliacci, as well as Richard Wagner's Die Walküre with Simon Estes.

Tulsa Opera also hosted special concerts at the TPAC. These included performances by Luciano Pavarotti in 1981, Leontyne Price in 1986, and Joan Sutherland in 1987. Many other great singers performed during Purrington's time, such as Jerry Hadley and James Morris.

Purrington left Tulsa Opera in 1987 to work for the Washington National Opera. Bernard Uzan took over but left after only one season.

New Artistic Ideas (1988–1992)

In 1988, Nicholas Muni became the artistic director. In 1990, Tulsa Opera's Young Artists performed Philip Glass's The Juniper Tree, with the composer himself attending.

That same year, Tulsa Opera created a new version of Verdi's La traviata. The sets were very modern, showing scenes in a disco bar, a swimming pool, and a hospital room. This production got national attention and was even performed by the New York City Opera.

Another important event in 1990 was the first time Le trouvère (the French version of Verdi's Il trovatore) was performed in the United States using a new special edition of the music. This was followed by the first U.S. performance of Gioachino Rossini's Armida in 1992. This show was a joint effort with the Tulsa Ballet and the Tulsa Philharmonic. It was even broadcast nationally on NPR.

Challenges and New Directions (1993–Present)

Carol I. Crawford became general director in 1993 and stayed until 2008. During her time, Tulsa Opera helped create the original production of Rachel Portman's The Little Prince in 2005. This was a joint project with several other opera companies.

In 2002, the Tulsa Philharmonic, which had played for the opera for a long time, went bankrupt. This made it harder and more expensive for Tulsa Opera to find musicians. The creation of the Tulsa Symphony in 2005 helped solve some of these problems.

From 2008 to 2016, Kostis Protopapas was the artistic director. In 2016, Tobias Picker took over as artistic director, staying until 2022.

In May 2019, Tulsa Opera made history with a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Lucia Lucas sang the main role, becoming the first openly transgender woman to perform a principal role with an American opera company.

Tobias Picker left in 2022, and Aaron Beck became the new artistic director.