Jul 29, 2024 | Throwback Thursday, Tulsa Opera History
In the fall of 1982, Tulsans were privileged to hear two native Oklahomans starring in Giuseppi Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Tulsa Opera. Leona Mitchell (Enid, OK) and William Johns (Tulsa, OK) were Metropolitan Opera stars of the day. Mitchell had recently won a Grammy...
Jul 22, 2024 | Throwback Thursday, Tulsa Opera History
When Tulsa became the “oil capital of the world,” a booming expansion occurred that inspired many forms of art to entertain its new population. Tulsa Opera was here from the beginning, pre-existing the oil boom, as a necessary art form, even before the roads were...
Dec 8, 2022 | Tulsa Opera History, Education
Jenny Cook, the staff music therapist for the Songs by Heart Foundation, dances with memory care residents in Tulsa, OK. Program Expands Tulsa Opera’s Community Outreach to Therapeutically Engage People With Age-Related Memory Issues in Interactive Singing Specially...
Jun 22, 2022 | Tulsa Opera History
Grammy Award-winning composer and Tulsa Opera Artistic Director Tobias Picker’s sixth opera, Awakenings, made its world premiere at Opera Theatre of St. Louis earlier this month. Adapted into a libretto by Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and neuroradiologist...
Feb 28, 2021 | Tulsa Opera History
To celebrate Black History Month, we’re taking a look at Oklahoma’s own opera legend Leona Mitchell. Grammy Award-winning and Oklahoma State Cultural Ambassador Leona Mitchell’s long and storied career has taken her to famous opera houses all over...
May 1, 2019 | 2018-2019 Season, Tulsa Opera History
From The Guardian: “‘This opens doors’: Trans woman to play Don Giovanni in a first for US opera. Casting of Lucia Lucas marks first time a professional US company has hired a trans person to sing the lead in standard work.” Lucia Lucas, the...