Rochester's American Opera Company
In the mid-1920s, a professional touring opera company emerged from the innovative productions of Vladimir Rosing and Rouben Mamoulian at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Its mission was to perform operas in English to popular audiences nationwide. First known as the Rochester American Opera Company the group made its New York City debut in April 1927 at the Guild Theatre. It won the support of many wealthy and influential backers. By the time it performed for President Coolidge and 150 members of Congress at Washington D.C.'s Poli's Theater in December 1927, the company was known as the American Opera Company.
The opera company strictly adhered to a non-star policy, developing instead a unity of ensemble whereby a singer might have a leading role one night and a supporting role the next.
During January and February 1928 the American Opera Company then brought seven weeks of opera to Broadway at New York's Gallo Theater, including a notable adaptation of Faust. In addition to familiar operas, Rosing subsequently selected several operas composed by American composers for production, including The Sunset Trail by Charles Wakefield Cadman,The Legend of the Piper by Eleanor Everest Freer, and Yolanda of Cyprus by Clarence Loomis. National tours followed for the next two years, but the Crash of 1929 caused bookings for the 1930-31 season to dematerialize. The group earned an official endorsement from President Herbert Hoover, calling for it to become "a permanent national institution", but it was not enough as the country sank into the Great Depression. Its last performances in New York were of Madame Butterfly and Yolanda of Cyprus at the Casino Theatre on Broadway in January 1930.
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