Arizona Opera History
Originally the Tucson Opera Company
Arizona Opera, originally the Tucson Opera Company, was founded in 1971 by a dedicated group of opera enthusiasts. Its inaugural season featured two performances of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in Tucson and by the 1976 – 1977 season Arizona Opera was performing complete seasons in both Tucson and Phoenix.
Since its inaugural year, Arizona Opera has produced over 200 fully-staged operas and concerts. The company’s artistic history is rich with a blend of opera’s traditional repertoire featuring baroque, bel canto, and verismo works, turn-of-the-century masterpieces, operettas, and American operas. Arizona Opera has also presented Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle twice, a feat that has only been accomplished in North America by four other companies.
General Director:
Joseph Specter President and General Director: 2016 to Present
Previous Directors:
- Ryan Taylor 2013 - 2016
- Scott Altman 2010 - 2013
- Joel Revzen 2003 - 2010
Conductor Laureate - David Speers 1998 - 2003
- Glynn Ross 1983 - 1998
- Richard Woitach 1981-1983
- Jim Sullivan 1971 - 1981
2023/24 Season
Kallor - Frankenstein
Rossini - The Barber of Seville
Gounod - Roméo & Juliette
Mozart - Don Giovanni
2022/23 Season
Redler - The Falling and the Rising
Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos
Puccini - Tosca
Rogers - The Sound of Music
Mozart - The Magic Flute
2021/22 Season
Martinez - El Milagro del Recuerdo
Bizet - Carmen
Sondheim - A Little Night Music
Mozart - Così fan tutte
2019/20 Season
Hagen - Shining Brow
Spears - Fellow Travelers
Puccini - La Bohème
Bohmler - Riders of the Purple Sage
2018/19 Season
Piazzolla - Maria de Buenos Aires
Schnyder - Charlie Parker’s Yardbird
Verdi - La Traviata
Puts - Silent Night
Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro
2017/18 Season
Morganelli - Hercules vs Vampires
Puccini - Tosca
Bernstein - Candide
Rossini - The Barber of Seville
Wagner - Das Rheingold
2016/17 Season
45th Anniversary Sapphire Celebration
Dvořák - Rusalka
Puccini - Madama Butterfly
Bohmler & Kohn - Riders of the Purple Sage
Rossini - Cinderella
2015/16 Season
Kálmán - Arizona Lady
Catán - Florencia en el Amazonas
Bizet - Carmen
Mozart - Don Giovanni
Verdi - Falstaff
2014/15 Season
Foglia & Martinez - Cruzar la Cara de la Luna
Verdi - Rigoletto
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin
Mozart - The Magic Flute
Donizetti - The Daughter of the Regiment
2013/14 Season
Gilbert & Sullivan - HMS Pinafore
Wagner - The Flying Dutchman
Puccini - La Bohème
Verdi - La Traviata
Donizetti - Don Pasquale
2012/13 Season
Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor
Gounod - Romeo and Juliet
Puccini – Tosca
Verdi - Il trovatore
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro
2011/12 Season
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo – Pagliacci
Gounod - Faust
Puccini - Madama Butterfly
Verdi - Aida
Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice
2010/11 Season
Gilbert & Sullivan – Pirates of Penzance
Bizet – Carmen
Puccini – Turandot
Verdi – Otello
Mozart – Abduction from the Seraglio
2009/10 Season
Mozart – Così fan tutte
Strauss – Salome
Puccini – La Bohème
Arias (concert)
Rossini – The Barber of Seville
2008/09 Season
Verdi – Rigoletto
Gilbert & Sullivan – The Mikado
Donizetti – The Elixir of Love
Mozart – Don Giovanni
Puccini – Tosca
2007/08 Season
Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor
Strauss, Jr. – Die Fledermaus
Gems (concert)
Mozart – The Magic Flute
Verdi – La Traviata
2006/07 Season
Verdi – Macbeth
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro
Puccini – Madama Butterfly
Grétry – Beauty & the Beast
Floyd - Susannah
2005/06 Season
Bizet – Carmen
Weill – The Threepenny Opera
Handel – Semele
Rossini – Italian Girl in Algiers
Wagner – The Flying Dutchman
2004/05 Season
Leoncavallo- Pagliacci & Puccini – Il tabarro
Rossini – La cenerentola
Mozart – Così fan tutte
Encore! (Concert)
Menotti – The Consul
2003/04 Season
Bizet – The Pearl Fishers
Gilbert & Sullivan – The Mikado
Donizetti – Don Pasquale
Sondheim – Sweeney Todd
Puccini – La Bohème
2002/03 Season
Verdi - La Traviata
Humperdinck – Hansel and Gretel
Strauss – Salome
Donizetti – The Elixir of Love
Puccini – Tosca
2001/02 Season
Verdi – Rigoletto
Mozart – Don Giovanni
Lehar – The Merry Widow
Poulenc – Dialogues of the Carmelites
Puccini – Madama Butterfly
Great Singers Series – Jose Carreras
2000/01 Season
Rossini – The Barber of Seville
Bizet – Carmen
Puccini – The Girl of the Golden West
Donizetti – The Daughter of the Regiment
Verdi - Don Carlo
Great Singers Series – Jerry Hadley
Great Singers Series – Denyce Graves
1999/00 Season
Puccini – Turandot
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro
Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin
Floyd – Of Mice and Men
Verdi – Un ballo in maschera
Great Singers Series – Kiri Te Kanawa
1998/99 Season
Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor
Strauss – Die Fledermaus
Verdi – Aida
Giordano – Andrea Chenier
Puccini – La Bohème
Great Singers Series – Samuel Ramey
1997/98 Season
Gounod – Roméo & Juliette
Verdi – Otello
Ponchielli – La gioconda
Mozart – Cosí fan Tutte
Puccini – Tosca
Wagner Festival Der Ring des Nibelungen
1996/97 Season
Delibes – Lakmé
Mozart – The Magic Flute
Strauss – Ariadne auf Naxos
Massenet – Manon
Verdi – La Traviata
1995/96 Season
Verdi – Il trovatore
Strauss – Salome
Wagner – Das Rheingold
Donizetti – Don Pasquale
Puccini – Madama Butterfly
Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen (Phoenix, Tucson & Flagstaff)
1994/95 Season
Bizet – Carmen
Wagner - Götterdämmerung
Verdi – Rigoletto
Puccini – Manon Lescaut
1993/94 Season
Strauss – Die Fledermaus
Wagner – Siegfried
Puccini – Turandot
Rossini – The Barber of Seville
1992/93 Season
Verdi – Don Carlo
Wagner – Die Walküre
Puccini – La Bohème
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro
Rossini – La donna del lago (concert)
1991/92 Season
Bellini – La sonnambula
Puccini – Tosca
Verdi – Aida
Rossini – La cenerentola
Verdi – Nabucco
1990/91 Season
Mascagni – Cavalleria
Rusticana/ Leoncavallo – Pagliacci
Verdi – Otello
Donizetti – The Elixir of Love
Mozart – Don Giovanni
1989/90 Season
Gounod - Faust
Verdi – La forza del destino
Puccini – Madama Butterfly
Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor
Verdi – Giovanna d’Arco (concert)
1988/89 Season
Verdi – La Traviata
Delibes – Lakmé
Bizet – Carmen
Puccini - Il tabarro/Gianni Schicchi
1987/88 Season
Gounod – Roméo & Juliette
Gounod – Roméo & Juliette (piano version)
Verdi – Rigoletto
Mozart – Così fan tutte
Puccini – Turandot
1986/87 Season
Tchaikovsky – Pique dame
Puccini – La Bohème
Puccini – Manon Lescaut
Rossini – The Barber of Seville
1985/86 Season
Puccini – Tosca
Verdi – Il trovatore
Massenet – Manon
1984/85 Season
Verdi – Aida
Mussorgsky – Boris Godunov
Lehar- The Merry Widow
Bizet – Carmencita y el Soldado
1983/84 Season
Puccini – Madama Butterfly
Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro
1982/83 Season
Moore – The Ballad of Baby Doe
Bizet – Carmen
Donizetti – The Elixir of Love
1981/82 Season
Rossini – Italian Girl in Algiers
Mascagni – Cavalleria rusticana*
Leoncavallo – Pagliacci*
Prokofiev – The Love for Three Oranges
[*Double Bill]
1980/81 Season
Verdi – La Traviata
Wagner – Lohengrin
Puccini – Turandot
1979/80 Season
Verdi – Macbeth
Strauss – Die Fledermaus
Puccini – Tosca
Rossini – The Barber of Seville
1978/79 Season
Verdi – Il trovatore
Puccini – Madama Butterfly
Verdi – Rigoletto
Mozart – The Magic Flute
1977/78 Season
Donizetti – Lucia di Lammermoor
Verdi – Otello
Mozart – Don Giovanni
1976/77 Season
Gounod – Faust
Verdi – Rigoletto
Rossini – La cenerentola
1975/76 Season
Bizet – Carmen
Mascagni – Cavalleria
Rusticana/Leoncavallo – Pagliacci
Mozart – Così fan tutte
1974/75 Season
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro
Humperdinck – Hansel and Gretel
Puccini – La Bohème
1973/74 Season
Verdi – Un ballo in maschera
Mozart – The Magic Flute
Puccini – Madama Butterfly
1972/73 Season
Rossini – The Barber of Seville
Verdi - La Traviata
Puccini – Tosca
Annual 990 Reports
Downloads
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 2020 Annual 990 Report | 1.28 MB |
| 2019 Annual 990 Report | 937.87 KB |
| 2018 Annual 990 Report | 1.03 MB |
| 2017 Annual 990 Report | 1.14 MB |
| 2016 Annual 990 Report | 468.4 KB |