History
Washington Concert Opera is a professional concert opera company offering internationally acclaimed singers, professional musicians, and choruses in concert versions of rarely heard, full-length operatic works. Founded in 1986 by Stephen Crout and since 2003 led by Artistic Director and Conductor Antony Walker (Music Director of Pittsburgh Opera and Co-artistic director of Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, Australia), Washington Concert Opera has presented more than 45 operas in a concert format, featuring world-class singers who regularly appear on the most renowned opera house stages--the Metropolitan Opera; La Scala; Opera Bastille (Paris), and the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden). The roster of artists the company has brought, and often introduced, to local audiences includes Renee Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Elizabeth Futral, Ben Heppner, Deborah Voigt, James Morris, Alessandra Marc, Denyce Graves, Sumi Jo, Richard Leech, Giuseppe Filianoti, and Vivica Genaux...just to name a few!
Specialties
Washington Concert Opera (WCO) is a fully professional company with the mission of bringing high quality, but seldom performed, operas in concert format to audiences in Washington, DC at affordable prices. We currently hold two performances at year at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium.