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Opera Omaha

 Organization

Biography

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. From http://www.operaomaha.org/content_pages/about-opera-omaha, 20 March 2014. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Omaha.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Opera Omaha Records

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-0001
Scope and Contents The records of Opera Omaha include material from before its founding in the 1950s to the present, documenting the history of the organization, its administration, and its productions. The collection holds board meeting minutes (1958-1994), news clippings (1954-1990), audio and video recordings (1960s-2000s), as well as scrapbooks, photographs, negatives, slides, programs, posters, original artwork, and related material. A portion of the collection is material collected by Cele Washington...
Dates: 1954-2018
Found in: University of Nebraska at Omaha Archives & Special Collections / Opera Omaha Records

Robert G. Ruetz Papers

 Collection
Identifier: UNO-0008
Scope and Contents The Robert G. Ruetz Papers include materials related to his time as a Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (1965-1990) and materials related to his service on the Opera Omaha Board of Directors. UNO related materials include committee reports, faculty handbook, curriculum reviews, planning documents, publicity articles, Brian Way residency information, correspondence, reviews of the UNO music program, scripts for KVNO-FM Opera broadcasts (1975-1976), audio recordings of...
Dates: 1959-2008
Found in: University of Nebraska at Omaha Archives & Special Collections / Robert G. Ruetz Papers

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