Madison Opera is a regional opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 company based in Madison

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. It was founded in 1961 as an extension of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and came to national prominence with the commissioning and premiering of Shining Brow

Shining Brow

Shining Brow is an English language opera by Daron Hagen, first performed by the Madison Opera in Madison, Wisconsin, April 21, 1993. It is based on events in the life of architect Frank Lloyd Wright...

, the opera about Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

 by composer Daron Hagen

Daron Hagen

Daron Aric Hagen , is an American composer, conductor, pianist, educator, librettist, and stage director of contemporary classical music and opera.- Early life and education :...

 and librettist Paul Muldoon

Paul Muldoon

Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet. He has published over thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. He held the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1999 - 2004. At Princeton University he is both the Howard G. B. Clark ’21 Professor in the Humanities and...

. The artistic director is John DeMain

John DeMain

John DeMain is an American conductor. In 2011 he begins his 18th season as music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin. He is also artistic director of the Madison Opera. DeMain lives in Madison with his wife Barbara and their daughter Jennifer John DeMain is an American...

. Allan E. Naplan left as general director at the end of February, 2011, and will be replaced on July 1, 2011, by Kathryn Smith, who comes from the Tacoma Opera

Tacoma Opera

Tacoma Opera is a professional opera company located in Tacoma, WA and is a member of OPERA America. The company presents two fully staged operas and one young artists' showcase a year. In 2009-10 the company presented Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment and Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro...

. The company performs two major operas a year at Madison's Overture Hall

Overture Center

Overture Center for the Arts is a performing arts center and art gallery in Madison, Wisconsin, which replaced the Civic Center. The center was commissioned by Jerome Frautschi, designed by Cesar Pelli, and built by J.H. Findorff and Son. Flad Architects and Potter Lawson led the project as...

, and one smaller production in the Overture's Playhouse

Overture Center

Overture Center for the Arts is a performing arts center and art gallery in Madison, Wisconsin, which replaced the Civic Center. The center was commissioned by Jerome Frautschi, designed by Cesar Pelli, and built by J.H. Findorff and Son. Flad Architects and Potter Lawson led the project as...

. The company also annually puts on Opera in the Park, an outdoor operatic concert held in Warner Park

Warner Park

Warner Park is a community park on the northeast side of Madison, Wisconsin near Lake Mendota. It is the annual home for the largest fireworks show in the Midwest, Rhythm and Booms....

. Madison Opera has also started Opera Up Close which gives fans a chance to meet the stars of its upcoming Opera Productions.