OFC brings the magic of opera to life each season with three live performances, events, community outreach, and education. Tickets sales, fundraisers, grants, corporate & donor support keep us singing. We invite YOU to become both a patron and steward of this vibrant art form. See you at the opera!
Why do you think having a regional opera company in Northern Colorado is important?
The arts are important, and high quality performing arts experiences should not be a luxury only available to people living in large metropolitan centers. That Opera Fort Collins offers professional live music and theater in a mid-size city like Fort Collins is vital to sustaining the arts, attracting and developing future musicians, supporting a strong economy, and building a unique sense of place.
The performing arts are essential to the human experience & opera is the ultimate performing art!
It's important that we keep this tradition (opera) alive for future generations. It's educational and it's beautiful.
Opera Fort Collins has a unique opportunity to share regional professional and emerging artists with northern Colorado audiences and confirm that opera is affordable and not exclusive to large metropolitan areas.
Fort Collins is a cultural hub for Northern Colorado. It offers so many wonderful opportunities and having an opera company further increases the city's reputation as modern and multi-faceted. Opera is a truly unique and enriching experience that anyone should have access to. Opera Fort Collins provides an excellent opportunity to showcase talented singers and introduce people to a magnificent art form. I feel privileged to get to be a part of that.
I just want to say a quick thanks for including homeschoolers in your special school matinee performance of "Elixir of Love." My girls and I enjoyed it so much and (we) have been singing "opera" all afternoon. We as homeschoolers really appreciate being invited to events such as this that we might not hear about since we aren't part of the school district.
This summer I enjoyed operas in Central City and Santa Fe, operas of the superb quality expected of those venues. I was thrilled to discover that our own Opera Fort Collins had entered that rarified realm of excellence with its delightful production of Rossini's La Cenerentola (Cinderella). Everything about this production was first rate. The settings and staging were outstanding; the orchestra, brilliant; the costuming, lovely; and the singing and acting, professional and completely engaging. Congratulations to Wes Kenney and Brian Clay Luedloff and all the extraordinarily talented singers on this wonderful performance, giving us, the most fortunate audience, a night of opera to remember.
Judith Eastman, Fort Collins
Coloradoan 9/6/16
Just moved to Fort Collins from NYC. Very impressed with superb quality of productions and artists.
Barbara Schaeter, Fort Collins
Madama Butterfly, 5/31/18
Thanks! This is my first opera attendance, but won't be my last!
Anonymous, Fort Collins
Madama Butterfly, 6/02/18
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! My husband has brain cancer and this was a surprise for him. He is SO, SO delighted and I am SO, SO thankful!
Cindy Guillaume, Fort Collins
Madama Butterfly, 6/02/18
Opera Fort Collins exists to entertain, enrich and educate through the professional presentation of opera and community engagement programs.
Opera Fort Collins, an established 501(c)3 non-profit performing arts group, provides productions of excellent quality and high-performance standards. Its goal is to both entertain and educate its audiences with a world-class art form, while providing training and work venues for regional and guest artists in the many disciplines that comprise opera production (directors, conductors, singers, instrumentalists, designers, costumers, choreographers, light and sound techs, stage directors, etc.). Opera Fort Collins was founded in 1979 with its first decade of productions running under the auspices of OpenStage Theatre. In 1991, OFC was formally incorporated as a performing arts company with Elizabeth Elliott as Artistic Director. In 1999, OFC added a winter gala, launched the regional school educational program, and held a regional singing competition. The Company's second artistic director, Dr. Todd Queen, expanded the season to include three productions: a fully-staged opera each fall, a December arias concert, and a concert version opera in late Spring. An OFC Apprentice Artist program was added, giving students in Colorado State University's Master in Vocal Arts program the opportunity to sing the comprimario (secondary) roles with the hired opera professionals. In addition, these apprentices represent the Company in its educational outreach programs to regional schools, service organizations, and fundraising events. During 2009, a part-time paid executive director joined the company to help manage its expanding programs and development. In 2010, the regional volunteer OFC Chorus was formally established under the direction of Chorus Master Dr. Gerald Holbrook. Dr. Queen served the company for seven years before retiring in the spring of 2011. UNC Professor Brian Clay Luedloff stepped in as Artistic Director in the fall of 2011 and retired in June 2020. Randie Blooding served as Interim Artistic Director during the period of Covid from 2020-2022. In the fall of 2022, OFC hired Steven Aguiló-Arbues as our new Artistic Director. Fundraising and community education events are expanding to increase a broader awareness of the art form and share the company's talent with schools and civic organizations. OFC is pleased to serve as one of America's outstanding regional opera companies. Member of Opera America.
Organization name
Opera Fort Collins
other names
OFC
1979
Tax id (EIN)
84-1183179
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
P.O. Box 503Larimer County, CO, US
Phone
9704820220
other
540-687-0080
Other
970-482-0220