Vivid.
Daring.
Now.
About
The Nation’s Period Opera Company
Opera Lafayette, established in 1995 in Washington DC, rediscovers early music masterpieces and reawakens lost operas for diverse, multi-generational audiences. Our intimate, engaging productions transport audiences to a vivid world of daring imagination.
Upcoming Performances
OCTOBER 2025
DC and NYC
Dido & Aeneas
Feat. Mary Elizabeth Williams as Dido
≈Witness Dido’s lament as Purcell's greatest heroine makes her Opera Lafayette debut.
≈Mary Elizabeth Williams returns to Opera Lafayette as Dido, the ill-fated Queen of Carthage, following her internationally lauded performance in last season’s Morgiane.
FEBRUARY 2026
DC and NYC
Queen of Hearts
A Valentine’s Day Revel Feat. Nic McGegan
≈Celebrate love in all its guises with tender ballads, amorous duets, cheeky verses, and bawdy drinking songs plus food, cocktails and wine.
≈Featuring Grammy Award-winning tenor James Reese and critically-acclaimed soprano Maya Kherani and drinks served by award-winning sommeliers and mixologists.
APRIL/MAY 2026
DC and NYC
New Woman
Feat. Lauren Snouffer
≈A daring solo performance reawakening fierce women.
≈Grammy-nominated soprano Lauren Snouffer takes the stage, reawakening Talestri, Queen of the Amazons, and Berenice, Princess of Egypt.
DISCOVER LOST MASTERPIECES
Join us on a musical journey that predates recorded music by hundreds of years. Be among the first in the world to experience exciting and previously unknown musical works performed on authentic period instruments — theorbos, wooden flutes , valveless trumpets— and played with passion and verve by the Opera Lafayette orchestra.
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED
“‘Les Fêtes de Thalie’ is precisely what it declares itself to be: ‘A triumph of games and pleasures’.”
The Washington Post
EXPERIENCE MAGICAL PERFORMANCES
Opera Lafayette performances are a feast for the senses. Expressive dancing, bold costumes and imaginative sets combine to produce a magical experience. Rediscovered operatic masterpieces, rare musical instruments, captivating singers, visual delights. This is not opera — This Is Opera Lafayette.
Welcome to Opera Lafayette —
Vivid. Daring. Now.
