Under the dynamic leadership of General Director David Bamberger, Cleveland Opera has won national and international acclaim for outstanding performances and innovative programming. Presenting opera, operettas, and the best of American musicals in extraordinary productions, the company regularly sets new box office records at the spectacular State Theatre in Playhouse Square, making its audience the 10th largest outside New York.
Productions are performed in their original language with the use of a translation projected above the stage. Exciting artists including Roberta Peters, Jerome Hines, and Sherrill Milnes have performed in productions that range from Verdi's Aida, Gounod's Faust, to Lehar's The Merry Widow, Thomson's The Mother of Us All, and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. In 1989, the company premiered Stewart Copeland's Holy Blood and Crescent Moon of which the Wall Street Journal said: "The classical musical establishment snickered all the way to Cleveland. . ., but when the lavishly produced world premiere was over, giggles didn't seem in order. Cleveland's gamble paid off."
Cleveland Opera is one of only a small handful of companies whose seasons are regularly broadcast on the radio. It also won an Emmy Award for its televised production of Benjamin Britten's The Little Sweep.
Through its educational/outreach wing, Cleveland Opera on Tour, Cleveland Opera has been Ohio's only arts organization to bring the joy of live musical theatre to senior citizen centers. A leader in arts education, Cleveland Opera on Tour annually reaches over 80,000 suburban and Cleveland Public School children, who also receive the enrichment of in-school preparation prior to attending mainstage performances. By working in these 250 educational performances a year, young professional singers gain the experience which has led many to successful national and international careers.
Cleveland Opera has served as a major catalyst for downtown renaissance, and its international reputation promotes its city world-wide.
Cleveland Opera also supports the following affiliate groups:
The Multicultural Awareness Program (MAP) develops programs to enhance Cleveland Opera's on-going activities focusing on Cleveland's culturally rich and ethnically diverse populations. The primary objective is to provide excellent cultural experiences for non-traditional audiences and to provide exposure to a less familiar art form.
Cleveland Opera on Tour is the educational and outreach wing of Cleveland Opera, performing over 300 times a year throughout the state of Ohio for civic and service organizations, fine arts councils and centers, colleges and universities, high schools and elementary schools. It has received national recognition for establishing the first fine arts program in the state specifically for senior citizens, another for patients confined to hospitals, and a third designed to entertain and educate children and adults with developmental disabilities.
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