Our Mission, Vision and Values
Our Mission is to create operatic productions of the highest artistic quality to enrich our community and to advance the art form.
Our Vision is to be the finest opera company of our size in the nation and acknowledged as the best at what we do.
We Value
Operating with responsible fiscal management that is balanced with our artistic vision.
Being a community asset for entertainment and education.
Being a component of the area’s economic development.
Respecting the talents and skills of the artists engaged by the company.
Creating an environment for professional development for emerging theatrical professionals.
Being a magnet attraction for regional and national artists and consumers.
PLEDGE TO COMMIT TO SOCIAL EQUITY
We believe that the arts, in addition to providing entertainment, can educate, open our eyes to other cultures, and introduce us to other ways of thinking.
We believe that the arts can help to rectify social injustice by illuminating the complexity of the human condition.
We believe we must move beyond the token representation of diversity.
To that end, we at Piedmont Opera wish to demonstrate our commitment to promoting social equity by pledging to achieve a more equitable racial and ethnic diversity
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on our Board of Trustees,
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in our stage productions, both on-stage and behind the scenes
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in the makeup of all involved in those productions.
We join the other many arts organizations around the world in the noble fight for justice and equality.
The History of Piedmont Opera
After three years of planning, Piedmont Opera (previously known as Piedmont Opera Theatre) raised the curtain on its first production, Verdi’s Rigoletto, in September 1978. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, this production and the four subsequent years were produced in conjunction with other regional opera companies. In 1983, Piedmont Opera Theatre was able to produce Puccini’s La boheme on its own.
Founded by the late Norman Johnson (1928-1996), Piedmont Opera is now in its 44rd year of continuous operation. The company strives to remain a nationally recognized and acclaimed regional opera company and a leader in the classical arts community.
Piedmont Opera produces the highest quality opera productions possible by using international, national, regional, and local professional singers and technicians. Piedmont Opera currently attracts patrons from 42 states and 11 countries.
In addition to two regularly scheduled productions each year, Piedmont Opera also conducts a wide variety of educational and outreach programs. As the second-largest opera company in the state of North Carolina, Piedmont Opera has a current operating budget of one million and operates with an administrative staff of five full-time positions.