Founded in 1991 by Dr. Theodore Weis, who, twenty years earlier had helped create the Arizona Opera Company in Tucson. Past leadership includes the artistic direction tenures of famed soprano Olivia Stapp, Maestro Michael Morgan of the Oakland Symphony, and is currently led by Zachary Gordin. Festival Opera is committed to presenting emerging and local artists in compelling and socially relevant productions of new and classic repertoire. Festival Opera gives emerging artists a venue to hone their craft in leading roles with the guidance and collaboration of established professionals – providing a vital launching pad for their professional future. FO alums have gone on to perform in major opera houses and symphony halls around the globe. Memorable past stagings include Mozart’s Don Giovanni set in a contemporary nightclub, Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins highlighting the human and political struggles we face, Floyd’s Susannah echoing the #metoo movement, and Massenet’s Werther set in the 1950s.

Ensembles that can mount programs such as this one deepen the richness of a region’s musical life. Let the light shine on Festival Opera.”
– Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice

“The East Bay’s indispensable Festival Opera has been doing pretty much everything right. The company’s most recent offering… was canny, affecting and beautifully economical. You really couldn’t have asked for more.”
– Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle