The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.
Leadership
Spanish tenor and conductor Plácido Domingo was general director of Los Angeles Opera from 2003 to 2019. Domingo sang 27 different roles with the company. He has also conducted 16 different operas and numerous concerts with the company. Domingo resigned in October 2019 following numerous accusations of sexual misconduct. Los Angeles Opera subsequently hired the law firm of Gibson Dunn, under the leadership of former United States Attorney and Superior Court Judge Debra Wong Yang, to conduct an independent investigation of the accusations. After interviewing 44 individuals, Gibson Dunn found that Domingo neither engaged in sexual quid pro quo nor any professional retaliation against women who rebuffed his advances. They also concluded that Los Angeles Opera policies and procedures against sexual harassment were “sufficient on their face,” but suggested a number of improvements. Los Angeles Opera accepted the findings and committed to implementing Gibson Dunn’s recommendations.
American conductor James Conlon has been music director since 2006, succeeding Kent Nagano, who held the official title of "principal conductor" from 2001 until 2003 and then became music director.
Christopher Koelsch has been the president and chief executive officer of Los Angeles Opera since 2012. He previously held the position of senior vice president and chief operating officer since 2010, after serving as vice president for artistic planning. He is the first year-round resident of Los Angeles to lead Los Angeles Opera since 2007.
Grant Gershon became resident conductor as of the 2012–13 season, after previously serving as associate conductor/chorus master since 2007. Previous conductors-in-residence included William Vendice, head of music staff/chorus master, from 1995 to 2007; and Randall Behr, resident conductor, chorus master, and head of music staff from 1988 to 1995.
History
Los Angeles Opera, which was inaugurated in 1986 with a production of Verdi's Otello starring Plácido Domingo, traces its roots back to the Los Angeles Civic Grand Opera which was formed in 1948. It presented staged productions in a church located in Beverly Hills through the 1950s, funded by furniture maker Francesco Pace. Carol F. Henry, who later served as the Los Angeles Opera president of the board, started volunteering for the Los Angeles Opera League in 1981. Shortly after its third production at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company abandoned its own production projects and recreated itself as the Music Center Opera Association by bringing opera from other cities to the Music Center, notably San Francisco Opera and the New York City Opera. San Francisco Opera began presenting productions in Los Angeles in 1937 and continued to do so every fall until 1969. The NYCO brought productions to Los Angeles every fall from 1966 to 1982.
In 1984, the Music Center Opera Association hired Peter Hemmings and gave him the task of creating a local opera company which would once again present its own productions. This led to the forming of Los Angeles Opera. Hemmings stepped down as General Director in 2000, with Plácido Domingo, who had been artistic advisor since 1984, assuming leadership of the company the following season. In November 2001, Edgar Baitzel was appointed director of artistic operations. Baitzel was appointed the company's Artistic Director in May 2003 and then its chief operating officer in February 2006. Baitzel died in March 2007. In September 2012, Christopher Koelsch was appointed president and chief executive officer. He previously held the position of senior vice president and chief operating officer since 2010, after serving as vice president for artistic planning.
Productions of non-standard repertory
The company offers productions in the standard operatic repertory as well as new and rarely staged operas. In 2015, Los Angeles Opera presented a new production of The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano, the first major U.S. staging of that opera in 20 years. In 2014, Renée Fleming starred in a production of André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire.