Opera Birmingham, Alabama’s largest professional opera company, has entertained audiences for over 65 years. From its humble beginnings in 1955 to its 60th anniversary in 2015 and beyond, Opera Birmingham has produced world-class operatic productions and concerts that have been hailed by critics and loved by audiences.
Opera Birmingham began in 1955 as the Birmingham Civic Opera. Under the leadership of Martha Dick McClung, director of Opera Theater at Birmingham-Southern College, the company’s first production was Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, followed by Puccini’s Madama Butterfly the following year. Since then, the Opera has produced over 50 different operas, and has brought hundreds of the best operatic performers from all over the world to Birmingham’s artistic doorstep.
After merging with Southern Regional Opera in 1986, the company became Birmingham Opera Theater for its 1987 season, and finally Opera Birmingham in 1996.
Board of Directors
T. Brooks Proctor
President
Matthew Penfield
Vice-President
Tom Barnett
Treasurer
Mary K. Jackson
Recording Secretary
Martha Pezrow
Corresponding Secretary
Dr. Andrew Duxbury
Immediate Past President
Todd Campbell
David P. Donahue
Sherri Hickman
Heyward C. Hosch III
Nicole King
Katy Ottensmeyer
Keith Rogers III
Ann Thomas
Karyn Uptain
Brian Viliunas
Lee W. Woehle
Life Members
Jane M. Hinds
Dr. Julius E. Linn, Jr.
Dorinda Smith
The Opera Birmingham Chorus, led by Chorusmaster Daniel Seigel, is an essential part of the success of Opera Birmingham. Chorus rehearsals traditionally take place on alternating weekends—Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings—beginning in the fall. For three weeks in advance of a production, rehearsals increase—taking place every Tuesday and Thursday evening, as well as Saturday and Sunday.
In addition to performing in Opera Birmingham’s fully-staged operas, the Opera Chorus also participates annually in the holiday concert, and has produced its own fundraiser, the Chorus Cabaret, which takes place in the fall.
Choral groups and college choirs are often invited to participate in Opera Birmingham productions.
Auditions are held year-round. Singers interested in auditioning for the Opera Birmingham Chorus should email info@operabirmingham.org for details.
GEORGES BIZET
Carmen 1957, 1973, 1981, 1989, 2002, 2012
GEORGES BIZET / PETER BROOK
The Tragedy of Carmen 2018
SIDNEY MARQUEZ BOQUIREN & DANIEL NEER
Independence Eve 2020
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Curlew River 1980
TOM CIPULLO
Glory Denied 2019
JOHN DAVIES
The Billy Goats Gruff, 2023
Little Red’s Most Unusual Day, 2022
The Three Little Pigs, 2021
GAETANO DONIZETTI
The Daughter of the Regiment 1990
Don Pasquale 1971, 1980, 1993
L’elisir d’amore 1977, 1982, 1995, 2005, 2017
Lucia di Lammermoor 2004, 2011
Rita 1986
CARLISLE FLOYD
Of Mice and Men 1988
Slow Dusk 1972
Susannah 1965
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Porgy and Bess 2008
GILBERT & SULLIVAN
HMS Pinafore 1984
The Mikado 1982, 1992
The Pirates of Penzance 2021
Trial by Jury 1961
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
Orfeo ed Euridice 2003
RICKY IAN GORDON
Green Sneakers 2016
Orpheus and Euridice 2016
CHARLES GOUNOD
Faust 1969, 1978, 2011
Romeo and Juliet 1972, 2018
JAKE HEGGIE
Three Decembers 2017
ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
Hansel and Gretel 1967, 1981, 1982, 2023
Hansel and Gretel (children’s adaptation), 2018
SUSAN KANDER / ROBERTA GUMBLE
dwb (driving while black), 2023
FRANZ LEHAR
The Merry Widow 1966
RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
I Pagliacci 1987, 2014. 2024
CARLA LUCERO / MARIANNA MOTT NEWIRTH
Touch, 2024 (World Premiere)
EVAN MACK / JOSHUA MCGUIRE
Lucinda y Las Flores de la Nochebuena (Lucinda and the Christmas Eve Flowers), 2019
PIETRO MASCAGNI
Cavalleria Rusticana 1964
GIAN-CARLO MENOTTI
Amahl and the Night Visitors 1976, 1979, 1985
The Consul 1969
Help, Help, The Globolinks! 1984
Introductions and Goodbyes 1972, 1974
The Medium 1974
The Old Maid and the Thief 1983
The Telephone 1987
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
The Return of Ulysses 1977, 1979
DOUGLAS MOORE
The Ballad of Baby Doe 1976
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
The Abduction from the Seraglio 1972, 1991
Cosi fan tutte 1960, 1994
Don Giovanni 1980, 1997, 2006
The Magic Flute 1990, 2002, 2013
The Marriage of Figaro 1961, 1985, 2001, 2010
CARLOTTO NICOLAI
The Merry Wives of Windsor 1970
JACQUES OFFENBACH
La Périchole 1979
THOMAS PASATIERI
La Divina 1972
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI
La Serva Padrona 1983, 1984, 1985
GIACOMO PUCCINI
La bohème 1958, 1967, 1986, 2000, 2007, 2015, 2022
Madama Butterfly 1956, 1961, 1979, 1999, 2006, 2013
Tosca 1963, 1976, 1990, 2008, 2019
Il trittico 1962
Turandot 1987, 2009
Suor Angelica 2014
SIGMUND ROMBERG
The Student Prince 1982
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
The Barber of Seville 1965, 1981, 1985, 1993, 2000, 2008
La Cenerentola 1983, 2007
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Samson and Delilah 2006
BEDRICH SMETANA
The Bartered Bride 1955
JOHANN STRAUSS
Die Fledermaus 1988, 1996, 2006
AMBROISE THOMAS
Hamlet 2015
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Aida 1975, 2005, 2010
Un ballo in maschera 1966
Rigoletto 1964, 1996, 2004, 2014
La traviata 1959, 1978, 1994, 2002, 2009, 2016
Il trovatore 1980
RICHARD WAGNER
Tannhäuser 1974
The Great Wagner Concert 2011
KURT WEILL
Down in the Valley 1960