History
Opera Colorado was born in 1980, when a group of Denver opera lovers gathered at the historic Grant-Humphreys Mansion to dream of a major opera company for the region. Their vision quickly attracted Nathaniel Merrill and Louise Sherman, two veterans of the Metropolitan Opera. Under their leadership, Opera Colorado launched its first season in 1983 with Verdi’s Otello, featuring world-renowned tenor James McCracken. That inaugural season also included Puccini’s La bohème starring Plácido Domingo, setting a high artistic standard from the start.
For its first decade, Opera Colorado staged two productions per season in the round at Boettcher Concert Hall. By its 10th anniversary in 1992, the company expanded to three productions, moving into the Temple Buell Theatre.
Leadership evolved through the 1990s and early 2000s, with Stephen Seifert and then Peter Russell guiding the company. Under Russell’s tenure, Opera Colorado helped champion the restoration of the historic 1908 Auditorium Theatre, which was transformed into the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The hall opened in 2005 with a gala featuring Renée Fleming, Ben Heppner, and James Morris, ushering in a new era for opera in Denver.
In 2007, Greg Carpenter was appointed General & Artistic Director, later honored with the title of the Ellie Caulkins General & Artistic Director in recognition of Ellie’s visionary support. In 2015, Opera Colorado welcomed its first-ever Music Director, Ari Pelto, whose artistry and collaboration with Carpenter broadened the company’s repertoire and deepened its artistic impact.
The company also established itself as a champion of new work. In 2016, Opera Colorado premiered Lori Laitman’s The Scarlet Letter, followed in 2018 by Gerald Cohen’s Steal a Pencil for Me. Both works were released on Naxos, earning international recognition. That same period saw the launch of the Scene Change initiative, which brought chamber operas like Laura Kaminsky’s As One to intimate venues across Denver.
Opera Colorado opened its Opera Center in Englewood in 2017, uniting rehearsal, education, and administrative spaces under one roof. Its Education & Community Programs now reach tens of thousands of Coloradans annually through school tours, field trips, and community events.
When the COVID-19 pandemic closed theaters worldwide, Opera Colorado pivoted to digital programming in partnership with Rocky Mountain Public Media, producing original operas for broadcast and streaming. The company returned to the stage in 2021–22 with a bold three-opera season—the first of that scale in a decade—including the regional premiere of Moravec and Campbell’s The Shining. In recent years, Opera Colorado has continued to make artistic strides with landmark new productions, including a brand-new staging of Korngold’s Die tote Stadt in 2023 and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman in 2024.
Today, Opera Colorado is poised for its next chapter under the leadership of Barbara Lynne Jamison, who became the Ellie Caulkins General Director & CEO in August 2025. Building on the legacy of Nat Merrill and Greg Carpenter, Jamison joins Music Director Ari Pelto in guiding the company into its fifth decade. With a balance of beloved classics, innovative new productions, and robust statewide education and community programs, Opera Colorado continues to fulfill its founding vision: bringing world-class opera to Denver and beyond.
Performance History
Il trovatore, Verdi (2025)
La bohème, Puccini (2025)
The Daughter of the Regiment, Donizetti (2024)
Samson and Delilah, Saint-Saëns (2024)
The Flying Dutchman, Wagner (2024)
Don Giovanni, Mozart (2023)
Turandot, Puccini (2023)
Die tote Stadt, Korngold (2023)
Rigoletto, Verdi (2022)
Cavalleria rusticana, Mascagni (2022)
Carmen, Bizet (2022)
The Shining, Moravec (2022)
Tosca, Puccini (2021)
Pagliacci, Leoncavallo (2020)
The Barber of Seville, Rossini (2019)
The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart (2019)
After Life/Josephine, Cipullo (2019)
La traviata, Verdi (2018)
Falstaff, Verdi (2018)
Steal a Pencil For Me, Cohen (2018)
La bohème, Puccini (2017)
Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti (2017)
As One, Kaminsky (2017)
La fanciulla del West, Puccini (2016)
The Scarlet Letter, Laitman (2016)
Aida, Verdi (2015)
The Magic Flute, Mozart (2015)
Madama Butterfly, Puccini (2014)
Carmen, Bizet (2014)
Rigoletto, Verdi (2014)
Don Giovanni, Mozart (2013)
Romeo and Juliet, Gounod (2013)
Il trovatore, Verdi (2012)
Florencia en el Amazonas, Catán (2012)
The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart (2012)
La Cenerentola, Rossini (2011)
Rusalka, Dvořák (2011)
La bohème, Puccini (2010)
Tosca, Puccini (2010)
The Barber of Seville, Rossini (2010)
The Tales of Hoffmann, Offenbach (2009)
Così fan tutte, Mozart (2009)
The Pearl Fishers, Bizet (2009)
Madama Butterfly, Puccini (2008)
Nixon in China, Adams (2008)
The Flying Dutchman, Wagner (2008)
Don Pasquale, Donizetti (2008)
La traviata, Verdi (2007)
Un ballo in maschera, Verdi (2007)
L'elisir d'amore, Donizetti (2007)
The Magic Flute, Mozart (2006)
The Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart (2006)
Norma, Bellini (2006)
Carmen, Bizet (2005)
The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart (2005)
Rigoletto, Verdi (2005)
Julius Caesar, Handel (2005)
La traviata, Verdi (2004)
The Barber of Seville, Rossini (2004)
La bohème, Puccini (2004)
Don Giovanni, Mozart (2003)
Sweeney Todd, Sondheim (2003)
Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti (2003)
Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky (2002)
Hansel and Gretel, Humperdinck (2002)
Tosca, Puccini (2002)
Orpheus & Eurydice, Gluck (2001)
Ariadne auf Naxos, Strauss (2001)
Turandot, Puccini (2001)
Fidelio, Beethoven (2000)
Porgy & Bess, Gershwin (2000)
Madama Butterfly, Puccini (2000)
Romeo and Juliet, Gounod (1999)
Macbeth, Verdi (1999)
The Magic Flute, Mozart (1999)
Gianni Schicchi, Puccini (1998)
Pagliacci, Leoncavallo (1998)
Salome, Strauss (1998)
Carmen, Bizet (1998)
Faust, Gounod (1997)
Don Giovanni, Mozart (1997)
La traviata, Verdi (1997)
Così fan tutte, Mozart (1996)
Die Fledermaus, Strauss II (1996)
The Flying Dutchman, Wagner (1996)
La Cenerentola, Rossini (1995)
Aida, Verdi (1995)
Tosca, Puccini (1995)
Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti (1994)
Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss (1994)
Madama Butterfly, Puccini (1994)
The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart (1993)
The Barber of Seville, Rossini (1993)
Rigoletto, Verdi (1993)
La bohème, Puccini (1992)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Wagner (1992)
Otello, Verdi (1992)
L'elisir d'amore, Donizetti (1991)
Don Carlos, Verdi (1991)
The Burning Fiery Furnace, Britten (1991)
Un ballo in maschera, Verdi (1990)
Faust, Gounod (1990)
Curlew River, Britten (1990)
Falstaff, Verdi (1989)
La traviata, Verdi (1989)
Carmen, Bizet (1988)
Gianni Schicchi, Puccini (1988)
Pagliacci, Leoncavallo (1988)
Samson and Delilah, Saint-Saëns (1987)
Manon Lescaut, Puccini (1987)
Amahl and the Night Visitors, Menotti (1987)
Don Giovanni, Mozart (1986)
Aida, Verdi (1986)
Amahl and the Night Visitors, Menotti (1985)
Martin Avdéich, Robert Downard (1985)
Il trovatore, Verdi (1985)
Tosca, Puccini (1985)
Turandot, Puccini (1984)
The Tales of Hoffmann, Offenbach (1984)
La bohème, Puccini (1983)
Otello, Verdi (1983)