Washington Concert Opera

WCO's distinctive repertoire consists of operas which either have not been presented recently in the Washington area, or are infrequently performed anywhere, or which represent opportunities to showcase artists.

Typically, WCO presents two operas each season, one each in the autumn and spring, in Lisner Auditorium located on the campus of the George Washington University.

During the early 2000s, the company presented operas in the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall, but with rather disastrous economic consequences: As of the 2005 season, WCO returned to the Lisner Auditorium.

Performers are often internationally acclaimed singers, professional musicians and chorus members who give rarely heard, full-length operatic works.

[10] In his interview with Susan Galbraith, tenor Michael Fabiano, who appeared in the March 2014 presentation of Verdi's early Il corsaro (The Corsair), expands upon the appeal of concert opera and defines what, for him as a performer, are some of the distinctive elements of concert opera production which distinguish it from fully staged and costumed productions: In describing the special challenges or opportunities for the singer in concert opera, Fabiano goes on to explain: Over the years, the company has brought, and often introduced, to local audiences singers of the caliber of 1988: Jerry Hadley (in Werther); 1988: Sumi Jo (in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and in I Puritani in 1990); 1989: Alessandra Marc (in Ariadne auf Naxos); 1991: Renée Fleming (in Thais); 1992: Denyce Graves (in Anna Bolena); 1992: Deborah Voigt (in Der Freischütz, as well as the 15th Anniversary concert in 2002); 1994: Ben Heppner (as the title character in Andrea Chenier); 1995: James Morris (as the Dutchman); 1998: Patricia Racette (in Guillaume Tell); 2007: Kenneth Tarver (in Rossini's Otello, and in La Cenerentola in 2010); 2008: Vivica Genaux (in Rossini's Bianca e Falliero, and in La cenerentola in 2010); 2009: Stephanie Blythe in concert; 2009: John Reylea (in Faust, as well as Attila in 2011); 2009:Elizabeth Futral (in Il giuramento); 2009: James Valenti (in Il giuramento and as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvrer in 2010); 2010: Jennifer Larmore (the American mezzo-soprano sang Charlotte in Werther); 2013: Lisette Oropesa (in I masnadieri as Amalia); Young artists such as Celena Shafer (in Esclarmonde in 2005), and both Sarah Coburn and Lawrence Brownlee—winner of the 2006 Richard Tucker and Marian Anderson Awards—who both appeared in I Puritani in 2007, have also made their area debuts with WCO.