Opera Tampa is the resident 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 of the Straz Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center).

Now in its 15th season, Opera Tampa produces and presents grand opera. The full-scale productions – generally of Italian opera – feature international performers, the Opera Tampa Orchestra and the 50-60 member Opera Tampa Chorus under the direction of composer-conductor Anton Coppola

Anton Coppola

Maestro Anton Coppola is an American opera conductor and composer. He is the uncle of film director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, as well as the great-uncle of Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola , Jason Schwartzman and Robert Schwartzman.-Life:Coppola started his...

.

Judith Lisi, president of the Straz Center, also acts as managing director of Opera Tampa. Soprano and founder of V.O.I.C.Experience, Maria Zouves is associate director of Opera Tampa. Baritone Sherrill Milnes

Sherrill Milnes

Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....

is Opera Tampa’s artistic advisor. Since 2007, the Opera Tampa Orchestra has been contracted and managed for the Center by IBEX Productions LLC, a Tampa-Based music production firm.

Opera Tampa performs in the Straz Center’s 2,500-seat Carol Morsani Hall, which was designed as a classic horseshoe opera house in the style of the grand opera houses of Europe. The acoustics in Morsani Hall were designed by Russell Johnson.