Portland Opera is an American

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

company based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Its performances take place in the Keller Auditorium and Newmark Theatre, both part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. Portland Opera also produces a separate subscription series of touring Broadway musicals, which also take place at the Keller Auditorium.

History

Portland Opera was founded as the Portland Opera Association in 1964 by the conductor Henry Holt, and the first recreation director of Portland Parks & Recreation, Dorothea Marie Lensch, was a founding member. Its first performance was Strauss' '' Die Fledermaus'', 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''. 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) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

'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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the Portland Opera Association received $1 million in federally backed small business loan from First Republic Bank as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The opera stated it would allow them to retain 73 jobs.

Premieres

Portland Opera's premiere performances include: * Bernard Herrmann: '' Wuthering Heights'' (1982, world premiere of an abridged version) * Christopher Drobny: ''Lucy's Lapses'' (1990, world premiere) *

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn de Echenagucia (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 ...

: '' Le marchand de Venise'' (The Merchant of Venice) (1996, US premiere) * William Bolcom: ''A View from the Bridge'' (2003, US West Coast 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 (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'', 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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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 West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

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