History
In 1948, five Tulsans, Bess Gowans, Ralph and Ione Sassano, Mary Helen Markham and Beverly Bliss, formed the Tulsa Opera Club. On December 4th of that year, the organization performed Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata, with local singers.
By 1953, after already changing its name to Tulsa Opera, Inc., it became evident that the format of presenting light operas and operettas twice yearly with one or two paid professional singers was no longer sufficient for an increasingly sophisticated Tulsa audience. With the presentation of Madama Butterfly in November 1955, featuring imported professional singers for all principal roles, Tulsa Opera successfully completed the transition to grand opera and made a giant step toward national prominence. In 1977, the Tulsa Performing Arts Center was built. Since that time, nearly all operas have been presented in the Center's Chapman Music Hall. Former directors of Tulsa Opera include Carlo Moresco, Carol I. Crawford, Edward Purrington, Bernard Uzan, and Nicholas Muni. The company's current Artistic Director is Kostis Protopapas.
Singers such as Licia Albanese, Carlo Bergonzi, Jussi Björling, Harolyn Blackwell, Judith Blegen, Stephanie Blythe, Joy Clements, Sarah Coburn, Muriel Costa-Greenspon, Michael Devlin, Marisa Galvany, Greer Grimsley, Andrea Gruber, Jerry Hadley, Jerome Hines, Kelly Kaduce, Alfredo Kraus, Dorothy Kirsten, Frank Lopardo, Chester Ludgin, Cornell MacNeil, James McCracken, John Macurdy, Sherrill Milnes, Anna Moffo, Herva Nelli, Maralin Niska, Luciano Pavarotti, Roberta Peters, Marguerite Piazza, Paul Plishka, Leontyne Price, Ashley Putnam, Louis Quilico, Samuel Ramey, Sylvia Sass, Renata Scotto, Nancy Shade, Rita Shane, George Shirley, Beverly Sills, Dame Joan Sutherland, Harry Theyard, Norman Treigle, Tatiana Troyanos, Richard Tucker, Giuseppe Valdengo and Leonard Warren have performed with the company.
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