Opera Lafayette

Opera Lafayette is an American period-instrument ensemble that specializes in the French repertoire, rediscovers masterpieces, and creates a recorded legacy of its work. Founded in 1995 in Washington, DC, by Conductor and Artistic Director Ryan Brown, Opera Lafayette has earned critical acclaim and a loyal following for its performances and recordings with international singers renowned for their interpretations of baroque and classical operas. Opera Lafayette's season includes performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and at the Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The Washington Post has noted the ensemble's "unique place in Washington's, or even America's, cultural life," (May 26, 2010) and The New York Times called the company's February 2011 New York program, Grétry's Le Magnifique, "a real find," and praised Ryan Brown for drawing "a stylish performance from an appealing young cast and a fine period-instrument orchestra." (February, 2011)

Since its inception, Opera Lafayette has been conducting in-school educational programming in Washington, DC. In 2008, through a partnership with the Alliance Française, Opera Lafayette initiated increased educational programs in two Washington, DC, public schools with students participating in interactive classroom sessions with Opera Lafayette artists. The overture to Le Déserteur was the first to set out the themes and describe the story of the opera, so by choreographing the overture with director/choreographer Catherine Turocy, students learned and participated in the central dramatic action of the story. The company's young-artist singers also brought the fun of Le Déserteur to a family/community performance at the Atlas Perfomring Arts Center in Northeast Washington, DC. By learning the popular 18th-century song which closes the work duirng the in-school sessions, students were able to join the cast in singing the opera's final scene at the performance. The programs expanded to three schools in the 2009-2010 season. At the family/community performances, students presented arwork they created in response to the music and story of Les Arts Florissants, and sang the final chorus from Philidor's Sancho Pança. In 2010-2011, third grade students in three schools learned french vocabulary from Clérambault's La Muse de l'Opéra,and demonstrated this new knowledge for their families before witnessing a full performance of the work. In 2011-2012, Opera Lafayette will offer in-school programs related to Duetto/Duo and Paisiello's Il Barbiere di Siviglia.Opera Lafayette's discography on the Naxos label has expanded to six releases including Gluck's Orphée et Euridice (2005), Sacchini's Œdipe à Colone (2006), Rameau Operatic Arias (2007), Lully's Armide (2008), Rebel and Francœur's Zélindor, roi des Sylphes (2009), and the October 2010 release of Monsigny's Le Déserteur. Its recording of Philidor's Sancho Pança is to be released in 2011, with Grétry's Le Magnifique to follow in 2012.