About
Opera Ithaca is a professional opera company based in Ithaca, New York. Co-founded in 2014 by Zachary James and Lynn Craver, Opera Ithaca is now in its the seventh season. Opera Ithaca opened its doors with Bartok's BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE and has gone on to produce DON GIOVANNI, DIE FLEDERMAUS, ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO, THUMBPRINT, CENERENTOLA, HAMLET, SONG FROM THE UPROAR, PAGLIACCI, LA BOHÈME, CENDRILLON, the professional premiere of IL SOGNO by Kristin Hevner Wyatt, and the world premiere of BILLY BLYTHE by Bonnie Montgomery. In addition to stage productions, Opera Ithaca is committed to providing a consistent venue for classical vocal music and programs concerts and community outreach events in Ithaca and the surrounding region.
Opera Ithaca is committed to educating the singers of tomorrow and with that goal in mind started an Apprentice Artist Program which provides opportunities to young singers who are in between formal training and a professional career. These young singers are cast in supporting roles, sing in the chorus, understudy principal singers and perform in concerts and community outreach events.
Opera Ithaca is committed to diverse programming. Opera Ithaca produces thoughtful productions of classic operatic repertoire as well as contemporary works, world premieres, and family-friendly programming. Opera Ithaca champions the work of women by including an opera penned by a woman each season. With the development of women-driven operatic works in mind, Opera Ithaca launched Inside the Creative Process in 2019. This incubator series offers an inclusive look at the process of creating new works and engages the community to be an active responsive voice.
Opera Ithaca is a Professional Company Member of OPERA America.
Opera Ithaca brings professional opera to Ithaca, New York and the surrounding Finger Lakes and Southern Tier region. Opera Ithaca enriches the local arts community by providing a consistent venue for diverse classical vocal music. Opera Ithaca produces distinctive and highly theatrical productions of diverse operatic and musical theatre literature as well as concerts, lectures, and educational outreach events. Opera Ithaca engages a diverse and multi-generational audience to aid in the longevity of opera as a living art form.
Opera Ithaca Staff
Ben Robinson, Artistic Director
Gretchen Van Valen, Managing Director
Lynn Craver, Artistic Administrator
Board of Directors
Deborah Montgomery, President
Dianne Orcutt, Vice President
Andrew Cove, Treasurer
Larry Harrington, Secretary
Emad Atiq
Charles Kruzanksy
Johnine McCartney
Patricia Zimmermann
Barry Chester, President Emeritus
Advisory Board
Sara Barasch Jonathan Blalock
Anne-Carolyn Bird
Blaise Bryski Karla Faggard
Curt Olds R.B. Schlather
Mission
" It has become something of a given that when opera emerges from the pandemic, the small companies will lead the way. Opera ithaca’s accomplished and imaginative film of Gianni Schicchi gives substance to that thought."
-Opera Magazine
"Opera Ithaca’s “Gianni Schicchi” encouraged no one to rest in the chaos, because the energy was intoxicating, light, and fun. Like a social media junky who loves to consume spirals of updates and tweets, this film whets the viewer’s appetite with comedic chaos in every moment."
-OperaWire
"Opera Ithaca has outdone itself again and promises even more for its next season."
-Ithaca Times
"Ithaca now has its own prolific and qualified opera company. Exploring the edges of the genre’s boundaries, they are building a new audience of opera goers that might just be the opposite of the urban relics of classical opera aficionados. Whatever Opera Ithaca’s upcoming projects are, they might not be what one expects from the time honored tradition, but you can be sure they will be downright innovative, fresh and exciting to watch."
-Cornell Daily Sun
"Entering their third season Opera Ithaca mixes world-class singers from across the U.S. with adroit direction and minimalist design. This year saw a charming Billy Blythe (Bill Clinton as a kid in Arkansas) with a blue-grass accented score, and a rousing, troubling and heroic Thumbprint, about the first woman to successfully bring her rapists to justice in Pakistan. Both were new works by women composers."
-Ithaca Times
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