Opera Lyra Ottawa

The company performed fully staged and concert version operas in their original language with French and English surtitles at the National Arts Centre as well as running outreach and young artist programs.

[5] Their second season saw increased private funding and the company's first fully staged opera, Così fan tutte, performed in the Alumni Theatre at Carleton University.

1987 was Gilchrist's fourth year as Artistic Director and her final opera at the NAC was The Elixir of Love, conducted by Dwight Bennett.

Jeannette Aster became Artistic Director in 1987 when Gilchrist moved to Europe for professional engagements singing Queen of the Night, Zerbinetta and other coloratura roles.

However, the company began experiencing financial difficulties after a series of expensive and poorly attended productions between 1996 and 1997 (Lucia di Lammermoor, Faust, Die Fledermaus, La Cenerentola, and Aida).

[11] The 2008 economic downturn led to renewed financial difficulties over the next three years which reached a crisis in November 2011 when the company was forced to retrench and cancel its productions of Tosca and The Flying Dutchman scheduled for the spring of 2012.

[13][14] Amongst the notable singers who have appeared with the company in the past are Richard Margison (La Bohème 1988, Turandot 2010), Louis Quilico (Rigoletto 1994), Liping Zhang (Madama Butterfly 2004), Russell Braun (Faust 1996, Eugene Onegin 2008), James Westman (Le Nozze Di Figaro 2009 and 2015, Madama Butterfly 2014) and Michael Schade (Manon 2010).

[8] Opera Lyra Ottawa is a registered charity, governed by a volunteer Board of Directors with an Advisory Council and an Executive Committee.