{{Short description|American opera company}} '''Charlottesville Opera''', before 2017 known as '''Ash Lawn Opera''',<ref>[https://www.charlottesvilleopera.org/history/ History], Charlottesville Opera</ref> is an opera company, founded in 1978 in Charlottesville, Virginia. For the company's first thirty years, performances were held in the boxwood garden at Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of President James Monroe. Since 2009 performances have been held at the renovated Paramount Theater in downtown Charlottesville.<ref>Blackwell & Causey 2005, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YKKB4-5pkJgC&dq=%22Ash+Lawn+Opera%22&pg=PA342 "Close Up: Ashlawn Festival"], pp. 341–342</ref>
Charlottesville Opera currently produces four original productions each season: a semi-staged concert opera in the spring; a full-length opera and a musical in the summer; and a holiday opera in December. In addition to the standard operatic repertoire,<ref>[http://www.ashlawnopera.com/about-us/past-seasons/ Ash Lawn's past seasons' programs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519040334/http://www.ashlawnopera.com/about-us/past-seasons/ |date=2014-05-19 }} on ashlawnopera.com</ref> Charlottesville Opera's productions have included American musicals and 20th century American operas such as Carlisle Floyd's ''Susannah'',<ref>[http://charlottesvillearts.org/blog/ash-lawn-opera-announces-first-year-round-season/ "Ash Lawn Opera Announces First Year-Round Season"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605053431/http://charlottesvillearts.org/blog/ash-lawn-opera-announces-first-year-round-season/ |date=June 5, 2014 }} on charlottesvillearts.org. Retrieved 8 June 2014</ref> as well as such pieces as Leonard Bernstein's ''Candide''.<ref>Jane Dunlap Norris, [http://www.dailyprogress.com/entertainment/candide-unites-oratorio-society-and-ash-lawn-opera-for-semi/article_734db43c-d15b-11e3-8afe-001a4bcf6878.html "''Candide'' unites Oratorio Society and Ash Lawn Opera for semi-staged Bernstein gem"], ''The Daily Progress'' (Charlottesville), May 2, 2014</ref>
Charlottesville Opera also provides a wide range of educational programs for youth and adults; professional training for emerging artists and interns; and seeks to enrich the cultural vitality and quality of life in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region.<ref>Mary Burruss, [http://www.c-ville.com/ash-lawn-operas-amahl-and-the-night-visitors-builds-community-through-access/#.U5SOXvldWLI "Ash Lawn Opera’s ''Amahl and the Night Visitors'' builds community"] on ''C-Ville Weekly''. Retrieved 8 June 2014</ref>
==References== '''Notes''' {{reflist}}
'''Sources''' * Blackwell, Mary Alice; Anne Patterson Causey (2005), ''Insiders' Guide to Virginia's Blue Ridge'', 9th edition. Insiders' Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-7627-3460-3}}.
==External links== *[https://www.charlottesvilleopera.org/ Charlottesville Opera website]
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Category:American opera companies Category:Music of Virginia Category:Musical groups established in 1978 Category:1978 establishments in Virginia Category:Culture of Charlottesville, Virginia