+++
date = "2018-10-21T21:37:00-04:00"
lastmod = "2018-10-21T21:38:00-04:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1540172156712/16603158_10154828059135498_8578371366546848343_n.png.png"
publishDate = "2018-10-21T21:38:00-04:00"
related_people = ["scene/people/leah-partridge.md","scene/people/todd-thomas.md","scene/people/alexander-elliott.md","scene/people/jonathan-burton.md"]
slug = "opera-omaha"
title = "Opera Omaha"
type_of_company = "Opera Company"
website = "https://www.operaomaha.org/"
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url = "https://www.facebook.com/operaomaha"
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platform = "Instagram"
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platform = "Youtube"
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url = "https://www.youtube.com/user/operaomaha"
+++

Opera Omaha, the only professional opera company in Nebraska, began in 1958 as the Omaha Civic Opera Society, a volunteer association. With tremendous community support, it became a fully professional opera company by 1970. From the beginning, Opera Omaha was instilled with a spirit of adventure. In the Civic Opera Society’s first season (1958-1959) along with its premiere production of Puccini’s *Madama Butterfly* in the Joslyn Art Museum Concert Hall, additional performances followed: Puccini’s *Tosca*, held at Boys Town; Rodgers and Hammerstein’s *Oklahoma!*, at Ak-Sar-Ben; and Engelbert Humperdinck’s *Hansel and Gretel* at Technical High School.

The original directors of the corporation were Francis P. Matthews, Henry E. Pusch, Homer C. Rogers, Lloyd E. Skinner (President), and Richard Valente.
