company history

Opera Roanoke, Since 1976

Founded thirty-five years ago in 1976 as the Southwest Virginia Opera Society (SVOS), the Company began as a group of dedicated volunteers with two performances of Menotti's The Consul in spring 1978.  Robert Sinclair and Milton Granger directed the early performances of standard operatic masterpieces.  They drew from talent within the Roanoke region and played to enthusiastic audiences.  The Company's early mentors and advisors were the noted Metropolitan Opera stars Eleanor Steber and Irene Dalis.

Under the artistic leadership of Victoria Bond from 1989 to 1995, the Company presented singers, instrumentalists, and set designers of increasingly high artistic stature.  It affected a name change from SVOS to Opera Roanoke in 1991 to reflect its enhanced professional status.  First hired as Resident Director in 1989, Craig Fields was appointed Artistic Director in 1996, a position he held until November 2004.  Under his leadership, productions garnered national recognition in publications such as the Metropolitan Opera's journal Opera News. In December 2004, Steven White was appointed General and Artistic Director. In addition to solidifying an artistic partnership with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Maestro White inaugurated a series of operas in concert that garnered critical and popular acclaim. Masterworks never previously heard in Southwest Virginia like Beethoven's Fidelio, and Verdi's Shakespeare adaptations, Macbeth and Falstaff joined standards of the repertoire like La Boheme, La Traviata and The Marriage of Figaro.

Steven White joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in 2009. Following his MET debut in 2010, Maestro White stepped down as Artistic Director to become Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of Opera Roanoke. Scott Williamson, Associate Conductor, Chorus Master and artist with Opera Roanoke since 1998, was appointed the new General and Artistic Director at the start of the 2010-2011 season, Opera Roanoke's 35th anniversary. Read the Release about our new director.

Opera Roanoke's 35th Season is on sale now. For tickets and information, call 540.982.2742.