The Nation’s Period Opera Company
Celebrating 30 Years of (Re)Making History
At Opera Lafayette, we bring period-instrument opera from the 17th through 19th centuries to life. Since our founding in Washington, DC in 1995, we’ve been dedicated to sharing the beauty, relevance, and historical importance of opera with modern audiences. By uncovering and performing lost and little-known works, we aim to enrich the cultural landscape with first-rate opera that might otherwise be lost to future generations.
From the stage of Versailles to venues both prestigious and unique in New York, Washington, and elsewhere, we stage intimate, transcendent productions that invite everyone into a realm of vivid, daring imagination. Opera Lafayette’s innovative take on opera stands at the intersection of the established canon and neglected treasures, with singers, instrumentalists, and dancers as the storytellers. The result is truly memorable: a journey that is distinctly Opera Lafayette.
Vivid. Daring. Now.
A Brief History
Founded in 1995 as The Violins of Lafayette, the company was part of a period instrument renaissance, a movement that provided a primary avenue for performing musicians searching for new ways to explore music of the past. Our debut season took place in the Salon Doré of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and featured four chamber music concerts by some of France’s greatest 18th-century composers. In 2001, the company was reincorporated as Opera Lafayette, reflecting our increasing concentration on opera that unites musical, vocal, and choreography to present richly nuanced realizations of the 17th- through 19th-century repertoire. In 2012 and again in 2014, Opera Lafayette achieved international fame when, at the invitation of Chateau de Versailles Spectacles, we were invited to perform at Opera Royal in Versailles, France, closing with five sold-out performances.
Since Founder Ryan Brown’s entrepreneurial beginnings, Opera Lafayette has expanded and is now the only opera company to perform its full season in both Washington, DC and New York City. Alongside our productions, Opera Lafayette has issued over a dozen recordings and two DVDs on the Naxos label, ensuring a lasting legacy of the timeless repertoire.