History

Maestro Thor Johnson, Music Director for The Nashville Symphony bequeaths a sum of money to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center for the production of opera.

Maestro Michael Charry, successor to Thor Johnson, recruits Mary Cortner Ragland to produce Madama Butterfly.

The Nashville Opera Guild, Inc. is chartered by Mary Cortner Ragland and Ellen Hofstead to solicit contributions to subsidize the production of Madama Butterfly at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Madama Butterfly performs at TPAC produced by the Nashville Opera Guild, Inc.

The Nashville Opera Guild, Inc. produces Puccini’s Tosca.

The Nashville Opera Guild, Inc. separates from the Nashville Symphony and becomes its own 501 (c) 3 organization.

The Nashville Opera Guild, Inc. produces one production each year.

The Nashville Opera Guild, Inc. transfers its charter to the Nashville Opera Association. The Nashville Opera Guild remains as a volunteer organization to raise money and assist the newly chartered Nashville Opera Association.

Ed Fish is the first chair of the Nashville Opera Association and Marguerite Fish is the first Guild President.

Guild membership drive tops 260.

Nashville Opera Guild takes over the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions.

Nashville Opera Guild holds it first fund raiser, a fashion show which is repeated every two years.

The Tennessee Opera Theater is founded by Daniel Killman.

Nashville Opera hires its first full-time General Director, Kyle Ridout.

Nashville Opera Guild holds its first Gala Supper before the performance.

Mary Cortner Ragland is honored at the performance of Bizet’s Carmen as “Founder and Guiding Star of the Nashville Opera Association 1980 – 1991.”

In May, Kyle Ridout leaves the company and a national search begins for a new Director. President William Whetsell fills the role of acting Executive Director in the interim.

In fall the Search Committee, chaired by Dr. Henry Howerton, hires Carol Penterman as Executive Director beginning January 1995.

New Executive Director, Carol Penterman, hires John Hoomes as Artistic Director and Cara Schneider as Company Manager. Lori Eubank remains with the staff as Financial Director.

In Fall Nashville Opera celebrates its 15th anniversary season announcing three productions and its first season subscription series.

The Opera develops a regional tour to area schools and dubs it OperaNET. OperaNET tours for three weeks to 30 schools and reaches over 10,000 students.

The Nashville Opera Young Artist Program is born and the first “Silver Circle Season Preview Cassette” is produced.

Nashville Opera moves from donated space at Belmont University to larger offices at 100 Oaks Office Building.

Nashville Opera and Tennessee Opera Theater begin discussions for a merger.

In September the merger between Nashville Opera and Tennessee Opera Theater is completed.  The post-merger NOA increases the number of productions to four per season.

A blockbuster season includes Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalierand the season plays to 91% capacity.

Randy and Amy Tate Williams join the Nashville Opera staff as Director of Production and Chorus Master/ Accompanist.

Launches its first web sites designed by Cara Schneider.

The company’s operating budget exceeds $1 million.

In September, NOA moves its offices to Trousdale Drive enabling them to consolidate administrative offices, rehearsal, and scenery and costume storage spaces for the first time.

Lynn Newcomb joins the staff, going on to serve as Company Manager and later the Development Director for Institutional Giving.

A unique collaboration with the Tennessee Repertory Theater produces Lillian Helman’s The Little Foxes and Blitzstein’s Regina in a new production design to accommodate both.

OperaNET produces the new children’s opera Rumplestiltskin by Amy Tate Williams.

Nashville Opera’s production of Turandot is called “the most magnificent opera the company has ever produced.”

Thanks to a generous grant from the Mary Ragland Foundation, the Opera’s Young Artist Program is renamed The Mary Ragland Young Artist Program in honor of Mary’s dedication to the training of emerging artists.

Nashville Opera launches its first internship program.

One Nashville newspaper notes “Nashville Opera has become the most consistently top-drawer classical music organization in our city.”

Project DIANE, Diversified Information and Assistance Network, selects Nashville Opera as its only performing arts participant to develop real-time, 2-way video teleconferences as an interactive classroom.

OperaNET sets new records, reaching 53 schools with 9 public performances in 15 Middle Tennessee counties.

One Nashville Critic comments “Over the last half dozen years, Nashville Opera Association has been the outstanding full-scale classical organization in our city…my classical music MVP in Music City.”

The Opera celebrates its 25th anniversary with its first main stage world premiere, Surrender Road by Grammy Award winning songwriter Marcus Hummon.

The Opera produces a documentary on “The Making of Surrender Road” which continues to be broadcast on public television.

The Mary Ragland Young Artist Program expands to include a coach accompanist in addition to four singers.

The company introduces the quarterly teacher email newsletter.

The company’s operating budgets tops $2 million.

A collaboration with the Nashville Symphony produces a new production of Amahl and the Night Visitors built specifically for the Schermerhorn Symphony Center to celebrate its grand opening season.

The company premiere of Romeo and Juliet introduces a new technology innovation with the cast and director commentary that can be downloaded from the web site or iTunes to an MP3 player. The commentary can be heard live during the real-time performance. The technology is featured on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”

August 2006 begins the two-year pilot scholarship program between Nashville Opera and Belmont University for graduate students in vocal performance. Three scholarships are awarded.

The company launches its first capital campaign, Raise Your Glasses. The $12 million campaign will enable the Opera to purchase and renovate space for its first permanent headquarters, the Noah Liff Opera Center as well as provide the resources for a capital reserve and endowment fund through the Fund for Artistic Excellence.

In October construction begins for the Noah Liff Opera Center designed by Earl Swensson and Earl Swensson Associates and constructed by D.F. Chase.

The Opera produces its second world premiere with Elmer Gantry by Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein to rave critical reviews. Five companies have committed to producing it in the future.

Nashville Opera and Elmer Gantry are featured on the cover of the Sunday Arts & Entertainment section of the New York Times.

A commemorative DVD of Elmer Gantry is enhanced with special features that include a composer, librettist, director, cast commentary and/or supertitles that can be played with the DVD as well as other special features.

The Nashville Opera Orchestra is created to supplement the Nashville Symphony when they are unavailable.

The Nashville Opera Guild and Guild President Helen Brown set a new record with a contribution of $145,000 to Nashville Opera.

The Raise Your Glasses campaign exceeds $9 million.

OperaNET is renamed Nashville Opera on Tour and is expanded to include a fall tour of Amahl and the Night Visitors to area performing arts centers.

The New York Times declares “An operatic miracle in Nashville.”

Tennessee Arts Commission annual evaluation states “This is an outstanding opera company. It is well-managed, financially sound, committed to outreach, education and the creative use of technology, and to the growth and development of the art form. Nashville Opera is a model organization which many companies across the country would do well to emulate.”

The Noah Liff Opera Center is featured in Opera News and Opera America Magazine.

Critically acclaimed production of Fall of the House of Usher receives national recognition.

The Nashville Opera Guild receives two national awards from Opera Volunteers International (OVI).

Art Director Cara Schneider wins her fourth Addy Award for design.

The Nashville Opera Guild hosts the OVI regional conference at the Noah Liff Opera Center.

On April 30 Mayor Karl Dean addresses the crowd as swordfighters cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the Noah Liff Opera Center, a visionary 26,000-square-foot facility.

The Noah Liff Opera Center is one of nine development projects honored with the Urban Land Institute Excellence in Development Awards for innovation in land use and design, design excellence, contribution to the community, reflection of the regional or neighborhood character, public/private partnership, environmental sensitivity and financial viability.

Education and Outreach programs and Education Director Stuart Holt set a new record reaching over 36,000 individuals.

The first production at the Noah Liff Opera Center, Hansel and Gretel,is sold out.

Nashville Opera On Tour produces the American premiere of the Canadian children’s opera The Brothers Grimm.

Past Guild President Dr. Helen Brown receives the Partners in Excellence Award from OVI.

Nashville Opera designs and builds a new production for Andréa Chenier.

The Noah Liff Opera Center (NLOC) retires its mortgage. The staff, board and those directly involved with the creation of the NLOC hold a mortgage burning ceremony in the parking lot.

John Hoomes’ production of Elmer Gantry for Milwaukee Opera wins a GRAMMY for “Best Contemporary Classical Composition.” The GRAMMYs recognize Nashville Opera for the Opera’s World Premiere of Robert Aldridge and Herschel Garfein’s “Elmer Gantry” during the presentation.

A new series celebrating opera in unique venues is launched with the inaugural production of David Lang’s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field at the Noah Liff Opera Center. Evans Donnell of ArtsNash writes, “Intriguingly, it is not the business of answering any questions but to ask them.”

The series includes special programming at:

• Opera at Boxwood Bistro
• Opera at Fat Bottom Brewery
• Opera at Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory
• Opera at Franklin Theatre, sing-along Grease

Opera on Tour begins a collaboration with TRIAD and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism. The collaboration is developed to support the inclusion of children with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder. The Opera’s pilot program is later duplicated by several other opera companies across the United States.

Vision 2020 is launched, celebrating John Hoomes’ 20th anniversary and 20 years of Opera on Tour.

The cast of the Opera’s production of Carly Simon’s Romulus Hunt gathers at Ocean Way Studios to record the opera following sold-out performances at the Noah Liff Opera Center.

Opera@ the Noah Liff Opera Center continues with Michael Nyman’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, which the Opera later records.

The Nashville Opera Guild sets a new fundraising record at La Bella Notte, contributing $160,000 in support of the Opera’s education and engagement programs.

The Opera’s production of Florencia en el Amazonas debuts at New York City Opera. The board hosts a trip to New York for the opening.

The Opera’s first recording, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, is released on Naxos.

Three Way becomes Nashville Opera’s fourth world premiere. Following its Nashville premiere, the production moves to the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Nashville Opera’s education program premieres The Enchanted Forest by Education Director Anna Young. In 2019, the program premieres her bilingual opera Abrazo de Oso/Bear Hug.

Rehearsals for Rigoletto Noir are canceled only days after they begin due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Production ceases immediately.

The Opera begins strategizing how to continue performing during the pandemic, researching the possibility of a rolling outdoor stage and exploring potential outdoor venues.

The production staff makes plans to turn the upcoming world premiere of Dave Ragland’s One Vote One into a film.

Nashville Opera partners with local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on the Nashville Opera-HBCU Fellowship to provide vocal masterclasses, artist residencies, and career workshops for minority classical music students.

Beach Party Cinderella opens at Ascend Amphitheater in downtown Nashville. The production is performed outdoors and socially distanced.

One Vote One, the film, premieres digitally in October and goes on to win the 2021 American Prize in Composition: Opera/Theater/Film/Dance and a Mid-South Emmy for Technical Achievement.

Opera on Wheels hits the road for the first time, taking Nashville Opera into the community with its new rolling stage.

Nashville Opera returns to indoor staged productions with the world premiere of Marcus Hummon’s Favorite Son at the Noah Liff Opera Center.

In May, the Opera celebrates the opening of Belmont University’s Fisher Center with its first production of Das Rheingold.

A new three-year strategic plan is approved by the board to guide the Opera into its fourth decade.

The Opera produces the regional premiere of Byron Au Yong’s Stuck Elevator at the NLOC.

Nashville Opera collaborates with Nashville Repertory Theatre on productions of RENT, which is based on the Puccini opera, and La Bohème. The Rep and the Opera hold a series of lectures discussing the differences in the treatment of the subject matter.

The Opera’s Director of Education and Engagement, Stephen Carey, creates a new program celebrating legendary Black singer Marian Anderson. Based on the children’s book When Marian Sang, the program combines the text of Pam Muñoz Ryan’s book with traditional spirituals, popular songs, and opera arias to bring Anderson’s story to life.

A new production of Carmen opens the season. Reviews note:

“Nashville Opera showed us last Thursday and Saturday night that there are still new and intriguing ways to tell the story of Carmen. Along with a phenomenal cast of singers, the unique setting and staging, and twist ending shed new light on the lush, but tragic story of Carmen.”

John Hoomes works with composer Shawn E. Okpebholo and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark Campbell on a new production. The world premiere of The Cook-Off is produced at the Noah Liff Opera Center in November. With the subject of television cooking shows, it is paired with Lee Hoiby’s culinary-themed comic opera Bon Appétit!

Nashville Opera welcomes Jennifer Zehnder as its new Chief Development Officer, bringing fresh leadership to help usher in the next generation of donors.

La Bella Notte honors Kristin Chenoweth as honorary chair at its 30th annual fundraiser at the Omni Hotel.

The Opera welcomes its new Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, Keri Alkema. After an accomplished international career, Keri brings her artistry, expertise, and vision to Nashville Opera.

Nashville Opera introduces a unique, interactive cabaret fundraiser, Opera Jukebox. Attendees control the musical lineup by bidding to have specific genre-crossing music performed live for them personally. Professional artists, ranging from classical performers to musical theater singers and guitar soloists, provide the entertainment.

The Opera opens its mainstage season with a new production of The Shining by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell, based on the novel by Stephen King.

The Opera also creates a new, visually striking production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville to wide critical acclaim.

John Hoomes celebrates his 30th season with Nashville Opera.

Nashville Opera staff team up with Backlight Productions for their production of The Sound of Music. Backlight Productions provides opportunities for individuals with disabilities to gain arts education and perform significant roles in integrated productions.

Nashville Opera and Cheekwood begin a new community partnership called Opera@ Cheekwood. The Opera Truck and Performance Trailer are placed on the Great Lawn. Guests enjoy live performances of all genres under the stars, surrounded by flowers.

The Friends of Nashville Opera decide to sunset the signature event La Bella Notte after 32 years.

Opera on Tour continues to reach tens of thousands of children and adults during its annual school tour and public programs. The tour performs at more than 100 schools and 14 community venues in 17 Middle Tennessee counties, reaching nearly 28,000 children and adults. Since its inception in 1995, Opera on Tour has introduced more than 800,000 children to the music and artistry of opera.

The Opera on Wheels tour continues to expand, with programming provided free of charge in eight counties and reaching more than 27,000 attendees.