| Since our founding in 1988, Opéra Français de New York has filled an important musical niche as the only professional opera company in America devoted exclusively to French operas, a repertory which has been unjustly neglected and under-served by American companies in recent time. In addition to works by native French composers, this rich repertory also includes many important operas by international figures (Cherubini, Donizetti, Gluck, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Spontini, and Verdi among them) who used French texts to create operas which received their world premieres on French stages.
By exploring and presenting masterworks ranging from the French Baroque period through contemporary opera, we offer our audiences unique opportunities to hear a broader sampling of the French repertory. We engage the most promising young singers, directors, and designers in a committed effort to provide emerging artists with important opportunities for artistic development, as well as the benefits of New York exposure, and offer young artists a valuable program of training in the specifics of French vocal style. In addition, our future plans call for educational and outreach initiatives including an opera appreciation program for students and a lecture/film series, which will provide the context for an analysis of the French repertory, providing an historical perspective on its performance practices and an overview of the careers of its leading exponents. |
