Bay Area opera companies
With its multimillion-dollar budget and access to the world’s biggest stars, the San Francisco Opera will always be the Bay Area’s preeminent purveyor of opera. But it’s not the only one, not by a long shot. In addition to West Edge Opera, here are some of the other local operatic outfits, some of them boasting venerable pedigrees, some of them scrappy startups newly arrived on the scene.
Ars Minerva: A new undertaking begun by soprano Céline Ricci to champion little-known early works. www.arsminerva.org
Black Box Baroque: This enterprising company was founded in 2013 by soprano Sara Hagenbuch to focus on the 18th century repertoire, and so far has staged three Handel productions. www. blackboxbaroque.com
Festival Opera: An indispensable company in Walnut Creek that celebrates its 25th anniversary in August with a “Star Trek”-themed production of Mozart’s “Abduction From the Seraglio.” www.festival opera.org
Fremont Opera: Founded in 2007 by David and Barbara Sloss (formerly of West Bay Opera), the company gives semistaged productions of mostly standard repertoire. www.fremontopera.org Goat Hall Productions: A showcase for contemporary opera, often by local composers. www.goat-hall.org The Lamplighters: Now in its 64th season, the area’s leading purveyor of Gilbert and Sullivan, along with other operettas. www.lamplighters.org Livermore Valley Opera: A 25-year-old company presenting standard repertoire performed by some of the top local artists. www.livermorevalleyopera.com Opera Parallèle: Under the leadership of Artistic Director Nicole Paiement, this company has become one of the area’s most reliably fine homes for contemporary opera. https://operaparallele.org
Opera San Jose: The brainchild of the late, great Irene Dalis, the company offers a mixture of new and standard works performed by its company of young resident artists. www.operasj.org Opera Theater Unlimited: A year-old startup with resourceful productions of Britten and Monteverdi under its belt. www.operatheaterunlimited.com Pocket Opera: With its roots in the heyday of San Francisco’s North Beach, Donald Pippin’s 39-year-old landmark is a showcase for local talents and for Pippin’s witty, cogent English translations. www.pocketopera.org Verismo Opera: A vehicle for accessible and affordably priced mountings of standard repertoire. www.verismoopera.org West Bay Opera: A Bay Area stalwart dating to 1956, with three full productions each season in Palo Alto. www.westbayopera.org