The Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1963 by the Walker Art Center, and is known for premiering such diverse works as Where the Wild Things Are by Oliver Knussen (based on the children's novel by Maurice Sendak) and Frankenstein by Libby Larsen. Its latest commissioned piece and world premiere, The Grapes of Wrath – based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same name, with music by Ricky Ian Gordon and libretto by Michael Korie – was presented in February 2007. The President and General Director is Kevin Ramach. The Artistic Director is Dale Johnson.
A number of operas have also received their American premieres at the Minnesota Opera, including The Handmaid's Tale, Postcard from Morocco, Armida, The Elephant Man, and The Fortunes of King Croesus. The American premiere of Jonathan Dove's Pinocchio was presented in February 2009.
Minnesota Opera's season typically runs from September through April, with five productions per season and five to eight performances of each production. Performances are given at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul, Minnesota. According to OPERA America, the company is the 13th largest opera company in the United States.
Read more about Minnesota Opera: Non-standard Repertoire
Famous quotes containing the word opera:
“I have witnessed, and greatly enjoyed, the first act of everything which Wagner created, but the effect on me has always been so powerful that one act was quite sufficient; whenever I have witnessed two acts I have gone away physically exhausted; and whenever I have ventured an entire opera the result has been the next thing to suicide.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)