Our Mission

OPERA IN A WHOLE NEW LIGHT

A leading interpreter of music from the 17th to the 19th centuries, Opera Lafayette performs little-known operatic gems and creates a legacy of these works through recordings. Incorporating dance, stunning costumes, and intimate staging with rising star singers and musicians playing period instruments, an Opera Lafayette performance transports its audiences to an era when beauty and captivating storytelling were the order of the day. Opera Lafayette gives new life to centuries’ old compositions, supported by scholarly research that highlights both the historical context of these works and their relevance to today’s world. Through this unique combination of entertainment and education, audiences discover opera in a whole new light.

 

Enjoy our 25th Anniversary (2019) compilation video

Our History

Rehears

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. For more on Ryan, click here.