PORTopera

Opera Maine (formally PORTopera) is a professional opera company based in Portland, Maine.

History

Founded in 1994, Bruce Hangen served as PORTopera's Artistic Director until 2003; at which time, Dona D. Vaughn took over the position. The company made its home at Portland's State Theater until moving to Merrill Auditorium in 1997. Besides Hangen, who before founding the company had led the Portland and Omaha Symphony Orchestras, conductors who have worked with Opera Maine include Giovanni Reggioli, Stephen Lord and present conductor Israel Gursky. Among the singers who have performed with the company are Mary Dunleavy, Kate Aldrich and James Morris. In addition to the principal company, Opera Maine also produces the Studio Artist Program (formerly known as the Maine Emerging Artists Young Artists Program).

Repertoire

The company's initial offering, in July 1995, was a production of Carmen with Donna Ames as Carmen and Adam Klein as Don José. In addition, Opera Maine has presented French opera, Italian operas by Mozart, along with his German opera, Der Schauspieldirektor; and American works, such as Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium in 2000. The Studio Artist Program has presented two rarely performed works: Bizet's Dr. Miracle in 2002 and Mozart's L'Oca del Cairo in 2006.

External links

• Don Giovanni' may elicit a gasp or two; PORTopera stages Mozart's dramatic comedy with a lusty edge. Keyes, Bob. July 23, 2006. Portland Press Herald