Opera in the United States

Opera in the United States dates to the 18th century.^[1]

The first opera known to have been performed in the American colonies was the ballad opera Flora, which was performed in Charleston, South Carolina in 1735.^[2][3] Later in the century, The Beggar's Opera was performed in New York City in 1750.^[4] This continued the trend of the popularity of ballad operas.^[4]

Opera in New Orleans began prior to the Louisiana Purchase, with the first recorded opera being a performance of André Grétry's Sylvain in May 1796.^[5]

The 18th century laid the foundation for the operatic tradition that would thrive in the United States in the subsequent centuries. Despite initial challenges and a limited scope, the interest in opera endured, paving the way for the expansion and diversification of the art form in the 19th century.^[6]

During the 1800s, European opera companies embarked on tours across prominent cities in the United States, introducing timeless masterpieces to American spectators. Memorable shows played a significant role in the increasing appeal of opera. The emergence of American opera companies, such as the Academy of Music in New York City (1854) and the Boston Academy of Music (1853), marked a transition towards establishing a domestically nurtured operatic heritage. Opera in the 19th century became a cultural cornerstone, influencing literature, art, and societal norms. It played a role in shaping the cultural identity of growing cities, with the Metropolitan Opera, founded in 1883, emerging as a major institution.^[7]

While operas by Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini secured great successes, local composers had only little chances of getting staged. Especially African-American composer had a hard time to obtain recognition. Neither Scott Joplin (1868—1917) nor his widow succeeded in staging Treemonisha (1911) during their lifetimes. In another case, a composer has disappeared entirely from public view: Harry Lawrence Freeman (1869—1957) supported himself and his own opera company during his lifetime, playing to predominantly black audiences in Harlem. He was acquainted with many African-American artists associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Twenty-one of his operas, as well as many of his other works, survive in Freeman's own manuscripts, and are kept in a collection of his papers at Columbia University. Nevertheless, there are practically no revivals of his operas.^[8]

The 20th century saw the rise of the "truly American" opera, characterized by drawing upon distinctly American themes, settings, and musical styles, such as jazz and gospel music.^[9] In this sense, the first American operas emerged in 1937, with the premieres of Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts and George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.^[9]

The American Indian opera also emerged in the early 20th century, as both Native American composers and librettists, such as Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Dakota) and non-Native composers and librettists drew on Native American characters, stories, and music to create new operas.

After World War II, the Ford Foundation began financially supporting the New York City Opera, in an attempt to promote more new American operas.^[10] In 1958, at the World's fair in Brussels, American culture was represented by Susannah, an opera by Carlisle Floyd, first performed at the Florida State University in 1955. Susannah Polk, an innocent girl of 18 years, is targeted as a sinner in the small mountain town of New Hope Valley in Tennessee. In 1957, Susannah had won the New York Music Critics’ Circle Award. It became one of the most performed American operas.^[11]

On January 27, 1972, the world premiere of Treemonisha by Scott Joplin took place in Atlanta, using the orchestration by T. J. Anderson. The work had been completed in 1911 and although the composer's widow tried hard, she did not succeed in getting the opera performed. Only 19 years after her death, Treemonisha was brought to the stage.^[12] It was an immediate success, several productions in the States and abroad followed.

In the second half of the 20th-century, the number of American opera companies continued to grow, but operas written by American composers and librettists were often overlooked, receiving fewer performances and premieres.^[10] In the mid-1980s, a collaboration between Opera America, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rockefeller Foundation began, in hopes of reinvigorating the opera scene, particularly encouraging the creation and performance of American-written operas.^[10] The collaboration was seen as a success, particularly because of its outreach to a younger audience; additionally, technology now made it even easier to provide subtitles at performances, allowing for better comprehension of performances.^[10]

During the 20th century, American composers such as Samuel Barber, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Leonard Bernstein emerged and gained worldwide recognition for their remarkable contributions to opera. Their works — for example Vanessa, The Consul or A Quiet Place — showcased a sense of confidence and individuality in American operatic expression. The American Opera Society (founded in 1951) played a crucial role in commissioning and promoting new American works, contributing to the global operatic repertoire.

Three American composers gained recognition worldwide in the 1980s, the 1990s and at the beginning of the new century:

• Philip Glass (born 1937) is widely regarded as important representative of Minimal music. He achieved instant fame with Einstein on the Beach (1976), a collaboration with director and set designer Robert Wilson, who was especially celebrated in Europe. Satyagraha (1980), Akhnaten (1983), The Voyage (1992), and The Perfect American (2013) followed. He also wrote the scores for Broadway productions such as the revivals of The Elephant Man (2002), The Crucible (2016), and King Lear (2019). For the latter he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play.
• John Adams (born 1947) is considered a post-minimalist composer. His early fame rested on the immediate success of a documentary-style opera called Nixon in China (1987), followed by the scandal-ridden Death of Klinghoffer (1991) and Doctor Atomic (2005), a piece about J. Robert Oppenheimer in Los Alamos. Especially Nixon in China has been performed all over Europe and is still on the roster of many opera houses after forty years.
• Jake Heggie (born 1961) describes himself as a theatre composer who is concerned with "serving [the] drama" and "exploring character."^[13] His first opera made a long lasting impression — Dead Man Walking, commissioned by San Francisco Opera, first performed at the War Memorial Opera House on October 7, 2000 and immediately acclaimed by public and press. Dead Man Walking is the first and only opera situated in a condemned row of a High security prison, it ends with the execution of Joseph De Rocher, a convicted murderer. Thereafter Sister Helen, who had accompanied him during his time on death row and who wrote the book, stands over his body and sings her hymn one last time. Also this opera secured its place on the roster of major opera houses.^[14] Heggie struggled to replicate the success of his debut, five less successful operas followed. But with Moby Dick (2010), he achieved a second major success.

The works of these composers demonstrate that the choice of themes in the USA is far more tangible and grounded in reality than current European opera productions. A significant discrepancy is also evident in the musical style: while Europe still somehow adheres to the twelve-tone technique, American composers do not shy away from accusations of prioritizing popularity and audibility. Evan Johnson writes: "An “American Composer,” by contrast, operates — or can be successfully interpreted as operating — without the same sense of obligation to history [as his European counterpart]; his or her concern is the present, the tightly bounded experience of a particular work by a particular audience as created by a particular composer with particular interests."^[15]

In the 1990s, two major operas with queer representation broke the rule of the unspeakable:

• Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk (1995), an adaptation of the life of famed San Francisco Supervisor, and
• Paula M. Kimper’s Patience and Sarah (1998), which showcased opera’s first lesbian relationship.

Both operas achieved mainstream success. Once the barrier was broken, also a successful Broadway play — Angels in America by Tony Kushner — and a Hollywood blockbuster — Brokeback Mountain by Ang Lee — could be converted into operas, the first one by Hungarian composer Péter Eötvös, the latter by American Charles Wuorinen. Terence Blanchard's queer-themed operas Champion (2013) and Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2019) have both been major hits at traditional American opera houses like the Met. Finally, the 2014 chamber opera As One by Laura Kaminsky shows the transition journey of a transgender woman.^[16]

The American opera scene has witnessed a surge in diversity during the 21st century, as various companies have embraced a broad spectrum of repertoire. Opera festivals and events, such as the Santa Fe Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival, have emerged as platforms for showcasing innovation, experimentation, and the vibrant array of voices within the operatic tradition.^[17] Contemporary composers such as [...]

Until 2016, the Metropolitan Opera had only ever staged one opera by a woman: Ethel Smyth’s Der Wald in 1903. This 113-year streak was finally broken by L'Amour de loin, an already successful opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho from 2000 — paving the way for the current surge of American women's works on that stage, such as Jeanine Tesori, Gabriela Lena Frank and Missy Mazzoli.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, around 2015, a brigade of female composers emerged in North America, making a name for themselves with new operatic works such as adaptations of successful films or explorations of social justice themes.

• Missy Mazzoli (born 1980) became known for dark, visceral soundscapes. She succeeded in 2016 with Breaking the Waves for Opera Philadelphia, an adaptation of the legendary film by Lars von Trier, and in 2018 with Proving Up for Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha and Miller Theatre at Columbia University, based on a short story by Karen Russell. Her fourth opera, The Listeners, premiered in 2022 at the Oslo Opera House, can be considered a modern gothic opera. Due to her rapid career advancement, Washington Classical Review called Missy Mazzoli "a rock star of the classical world".^[18]
• Ellen Reid (born 1966) won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera Prism, which explores the psychological effects of trauma.
• Jeanine Tesori (born 1961) created Blue (2019), focusing on police violence, and Grounded (2023), exploring the psychological toll of remote drone warfare. Blue premiered at the Glimmerglass Festival and has been performed at major opera houses, i.e. Chicago and Washington. It won Best New Opera, awarded by the Music Critics Association of North America. Grounded was commissioned by the Met.
• Du Yun (born 1977) often blends operatic tradition with punk and experimental sound. Her opera Angel's Bone is a harrowing allegory for the modern-day exploitation of vulnerable individuals, using angels to address human trafficking in today's world. The libretto was written by Royce Vavrek. The opera won 2017 Pulitzer Prize.
• Gabriela Lena Frank (born 1972) frequently integrates her Peruvian-Chinese-Jewish heritage into her operatic work. In 2022, she presented El último sueño de Frida y Diego, a work co-commissioned by San Diego Opera, San Francisco Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and the DePauw University School of Music. It is considered one of the most successful Bio-Operas of the 21st century, i.e.operas based on historical figures. When the opera was presented at the Met in 2023, it was their first ever production in Spanish language. The opera is due to be shown also at Lyric Opera of Chicago (in March 2026).
• Laura Kaminsky (born 1956) is mainly known for As One, but she also composed Time to Act, commissioned by Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Montana and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, with additional funding by Opera Santa Barbara. The opera tackles the issue of School violence.

Three colleagues helped pave the way: Composer Thea Musgrave (born 1928), originally from Scotland, created among others Mary, Queen of Scots and Simón Bolívar, the latter first shown in 1995 in Norfolk, Virginia. Libby Larsen (born 1950) is still one of America’s most prolific and most performed living composers. Her catalogue of compositions contains more then 500 works, she has worked for every genre of classical music, including 15 operas/chamber operas. In 1990, her opera Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus premiered at the Minnesota Opera.^[19] The other personality, Meredith Monk, creates total works of art that blends music, dance, film, and theater into a single, immersive experience. She often refers to her stage works as Musik-Theater or Opera Epics, as they break almost every rule of the classical genre. Her most formal opera, Atlas, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera and for the first time performed in 1991, follows the journey of a young woman seeking spiritual enlightenment across the globe.^[20]

The U.S. has become a hub for opera education, with institutions such as the Juilliard School^[21] and the Curtis Institute of Music fostering the training of aspiring opera professionals. The Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program continues to nurture emerging talent. Opera's influence on American culture persists as it tackles modern-day concerns through inventive performances and partnerships.^[22] Composers such as Miguel del Aguila have written numerous operas, among them Time and Again Barela, commissioned by the city of Albuquerque for its tricentennial celebration.

• Opera in Latin America
• American Indian opera
• List of North American opera companies

• Ken Wlaschin (24 September 2009). Encyclopedia of American Opera. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-4596-7.
• Opera, entry in "The United States Encyclopedia of History", Volume 13
• Dizikes, John (1993). Opera in America : A Cultural History. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 611. ISBN 0300061013.