The Knoxville Opera is an American opera company based in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1978 as the Knoxville Civic Opera by Edward Zambara, who served as Artistic Director until 1981.[1][2] The company changed its name and became an entirely professional opera company in 1983.[3] Since 1981 the company has had three General Directors who also served as the Principal Conductor; Robert Lyall who served from 1982-1999, Francis Graffeo from 2000-2005, Brian Salesky from 2005-2022.[4], and Jason Hardy from 2022 to present.[5]

The 1978 inaugural performance of La Traviata included opera stars Delores Ziegler and Knoxville native Mary Costa, who garnered fame for creating the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney film Sleeping Beauty. Notable appearances with the company include gala performances by Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne, Cheryl Studer and Catherine Malfitano,[6] in addition to leading roles performed by Rosalind Elias, Mary Dunleavy, Faith Esham, Stella Zambalis, Jami Rogers-Anderson, Joyce El-Khoury, Talise Trevigne, Rachele Gilmore, Barbara Dever, Victoria Livengood, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Carl Tanner, Richard Troxell, David Keith, Robert Orth, Kevin Langan, Kevin Short, Kevin Burdette, Jan Opalach, Jeffrey Wells, Andrew Wentzel, and Zachary James.[7] Directors who have appeared regularly with the company include James Marvel and Carroll Freeman, the latter having directed more than twenty-five operas with the company beginning with The Marriage of Figaro in 1996.[8] Freeman also served as Artistic Director of the Knoxville Opera Studio at the University of Tennessee, a training program whose members often perform supporting roles with Knoxville Opera as part of their studies.[9]

The company performs at the Tennessee Theatre.[10] In 2011, the company celebrated the Tenth Anniversary of their Rossini Festival and Italian Street Fair in downtown Knoxville. In addition to food and crafts, the festival offers free open-air performances by members of the Knoxville Opera and UT Knoxville Opera Studio,[11] drawing as many as 35,000 people.[12]

In 2015 the company was the subject of national attention regarding a controversy over physical appearance in opera hiring practices.[13][14] Knoxville Opera celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2018 and plans to stage Nkeiru Okoye's opera Harriet Tubman in a 2020 revival of the 2014 American Opera Projects production.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Waxberg, Greg (23 March 2018) "40 Years and Counting for Knoxville Opera" Archived 2019-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Opera Wire
  2. ^ Marquard, Bryan (09 August 2007) "Edward Zambara, 81; taught singing to acclaimed performers" Archived 2012-10-12 at the Wayback MachineThe Boston Globe
  3. ^ "Knoxville Opera History". Knoxville Opera. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  4. ^ Mattison, Ben (24 May 2005) "Knoxville Opera Names General Director" Archived 2019-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Playbill
  5. ^ Sherrod, Alan (1 December 2021) [1] "Knoxville Opera Announces Big Changes To Its Artistic Management Team" Arts Knoxville
  6. ^ Mason, Doug (31 August 2003) "Renowned soprano returns to Knoxville"Knoxville News-Sentinel
  7. ^ "Knoxville Opera History". Knoxville Opera. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  8. ^ "Knoxville Opera History". Knoxville Opera. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  9. ^ "Knoxville Opera Studio at University of Tennessee". University of Tennessee. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  10. ^ "Tennessee Theatre Historical Timeline". Tennessee Theatre. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  11. ^ Lakin, Matt. (25 April 2010) "Despite wet weather, about 20,000 attend Rossini festival" Archived 2010-09-01 at the Wayback MachineKnoxville News-Sentinel
  12. ^ Shearer, John. (9 April 2011) "Rossini Festival draws a crowd to downtown Knoxville" Archived 2011-06-16 at the Wayback MachineKnoxville News-Sentinel
  13. ^ Simeonov, Jenna (02 December 2015) "Knoxville Opera, poor diction, and prerogative" Archived 2019-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Schmopera
  14. ^ Norman Lebrecht (03 December 2015) "An American bass thunders at anti-old, ugly opera" Archived 2019-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Slipped Disc
  15. ^ Waxberg, Greg (23 March 2018) "40 Years and Counting for Knoxville Opera" Archived 2019-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Opera Wire
  16. ^ "Harriet Tubman at Knoxville Opera". American Opera Projects. Archived from the original on November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.

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