Opera Lafayette - About Us

COMPANY HISTORY

Opera Lafayette is an American period instrument ensemble dedicated to performances of 17^th- and 18^th-century operas, particularly the French repertoire. Founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Ryan Brown, Opera Lafayette has garnered critical acclaim and a loyal following for its concert and staged opera productions with well-known American and international artists. Its collaborations with The New York Baroque Dance Company, the leading baroque dance group in this country, have produced world premiere musical and dance performances.

Opera Lafayette records for Naxos. Its debut recording of the 1774 Paris version of Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice was released internationally in 2005, followed by Sacchini’s Oedipe à Colone in 2006 and Rameau’s Rameau Opera Arias for Haute-Contre with tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt in 2007. Opera Lafayette has also recorded Lully's Armide for release in 2008 and Rebel and Francoeur’s Zélindor, roi des Sylphes, a world premiere recording made at the Music Center at Strathmore, for release in 2009.

With the 2007-2008 season’s performances and recording of Zélindor, Opera Lafayette launched a three-year project to present modern American premieres of three 18^th-century French operas in Washington, D.C. and in New York City at the Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and also to make premiere recordings of these operas. Monsigny's Le Déserteur, popular in Europe and the United States in the 18th century, is its next project, and will be presented in January and February 2009.

Concert in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Opera Lafayette was founded by Mr. Brown in 1995 as The Violins of Lafayette, producing a series of chamber concerts in the Salon Doré, an 18^th-century drawing room in the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The ensemble quickly established a reputation for excellence, giving particular attention to opera in both semi-staged and concert performances. Among these were Charpentier’s Actéon; in 1999, Rameau’s Pygmalion in 2000, and Lully’s Acis et Galatée with The New York Baroque Dance Company at the Embassy of France.

The newly-named Opera Lafayette was presented on the 2001-2002 inaugural season of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice (1774 Paris version) with French tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt began a series of performances and recordings of the 17^th- and 18^th-century opera at the Center. Also in the 2001-2002 season, Opera Lafayette performed sections of Charpentier and Moliere’s Le Malade Imaginaire in collaboration with the Redwoods Festival in California, following a tour of Handel’s Acis and Galatea in collaboration with The Four Nations Ensemble. In recent seasons, Opera Lafayette has produced Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie in concert, Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna in a semi-staged production directed by Leon Major, and Mozart’s Idomeneo in concert with The New York Baroque Dance Company. In 2006-2007 Opera Lafayette presented The Armide Project - a concert performance with the New York Baroque Dance Company of Lully’s 1686 Armide, and a fully staged production of Gluck’s 1777 Armide with Mr. Major and the Maryland Opera Studio. In the 2007 – 2008 season Opera Lafayette made its Strathmore Hall and New York City debuts with Zélindor, and also produced a program entitled The Genesis of Don Giovanni featuring the music of Mozart and earlier composers whose works were the models for this opera. In 2009 the ensemble performed the modern American premiere of Monsigny’s Le Déserteur in Washington, D.C. and New York City. The current season includes performances of three different genres of French opera, and also saw the release of Opera Lafayette's fifth recording, Rebel and Francoeur's Zélindor, roi des Sylphes.

Opera Lafayette Young Artist Program

Opera Lafayette is committed to teaching 17^th- and 18^th-century musical traditions to the next generation of artists. In the 2007-2008 season, building upon a successful collaboration with the Maryland Opera Studio, a professional training program of the University of Maryland, Opera Lafayette launched a young-artists program that gives talented emerging singers the opportunity to work with specialists in the field of 17th- and 18th-century music. Through mainstage performances in secondary roles, covering of lead roles, and special coaching sessions, participants polish their skills and gain valuable performance and recording experience with Opera Lafayette.

Education and Community Outreach Program

In 2008-2009, Opera Lafayette initiated new educational programs in two Washington, DC public schools. The programs will expand in the 2009-2010 season with performances and activities related to Les Arts Florissants and Sancho Pança. Students will participate in interactive classroom sessions with Opera Lafayette artists, and then join Opera Lafayette for family/community performances at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. Please contact Opera Lafayette if your school is interested in participating.

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