Opera Lafayette

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title: "Opera Lafayette" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["musical-groups-established-in-1994", "opera-companies-in-washington,-d.c.", "1994-establishments-in-washington,-d.c."] description: "Baroque opera company based in Washington, D.C." topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_Lafayette" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Baroque opera company based in Washington, D.C. ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox organization"]

Field	Value
name	Opera Lafayette
named_after	Marquis de Lafayette
image_size	300px
alt	Scene from a 2015 performance of Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte by Opera Lafayette
caption	Scene from a 2015 performance of Rameau's Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte by Opera Lafayette
logo	Opera_Lafayette_logo.png
logo_size	180px
logo_alt	Opera Lafayette logo
formation
founder	Ryan Brown
founding_location	Washington, D.C., United States
extinction
tax_id
registration_id
headquarters	Old Naval Hospital
owner
leader_title	Conductor and Artistic Director
leader_name	Patrick Quigley
leader_title2	Executive Director
leader_name2	Lisa Mion
leader_title4	Board Chair
leader_name4	Nizam P. Kettaneh
website
formerly	Violins of Lafayette
::

| name = Opera Lafayette | named_after = Marquis de Lafayette | image = | image_size = 300px | alt = Scene from a 2015 performance of Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte by Opera Lafayette | caption = Scene from a 2015 performance of Rameau's Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte by Opera Lafayette | logo = Opera_Lafayette_logo.png | logo_size = 180px | logo_alt = Opera Lafayette logo | logo_caption = | map = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 = | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = | motto = | predecessor = | merged = | successor = | formation = | founder = Ryan Brown | founding_location = Washington, D.C., United States | extinction = | merger = | type = | tax_id = | registration_id = | status = | purpose = | headquarters = Old Naval Hospital | location = | coords = | region = | services = | products = | methods = | fields = | membership = | membership_year = | language = | owner = | sec_gen = | leader_title = Conductor and Artistic Director | leader_name = Patrick Quigley | leader_title2 = Executive Director | leader_name2 = Lisa Mion | leader_title4 = Board Chair | leader_name4 = Nizam P. Kettaneh | board_of_directors = | key_people = | main_organ = | parent_organization = | subsidiaries = | secessions = | affiliations = | budget = | budget_year = | revenue = | revenue_year = | disbursements = | expenses = | expenses_year = | endowment = | staff = | staff_year = | volunteers = | volunteers_year = | slogan = | mission = | website = | remarks = | formerly = Violins of Lafayette | footnotes =

Opera Lafayette is a baroque opera company based in Washington, D.C., that produces French operas from the 17th and 18th centuries. It was founded in 1995 by Ryan Brown and is the only opera company to produce its full season in both Washington and New York City.

History

Specializing in French Baroque opera, Opera Lafayette was founded in Washington's Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1994 by Ryan Brown as the Violins of Lafayette, named after the Marquis de Lafayette. It adopted its current name during 2001 and, in 2005, released its first recording on the Naxos label, Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orphée et Euridice. In 2012, Opera Lafayette staged its first international performance, Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's Le roi et le fermier (The King and the Farmer); this "forgotten" Monsigny work was performed at the Royal Opera of Versailles using recently discovered backdrops from a 1780 staging of the opera. An ensemble from the company performed aboard the French frigate Hermione, a replica of the 32-gun Concorde class frigate that once ferried the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States, during its 2015 visit to Alexandria, Virginia.

According to the New York Times, Opera Lafayette has "won consistent praise and loyal audiences for its historically informed productions of French Baroque operas using period instruments, appropriate costumes and elegant dancing". The paper has further described it as "a skillful purveyor of French Baroque operas", while DC Theatre Scene has said the company "should be considered a national treasure".

Organization

As of 2019, the opera's conductor and artistic director is Ryan Brown, Lisa Mion is the managing director, and Nizam Kettaneh and Dorsey C. Dunn are the co-chairs of the company's board of directors. The concertmaster of Opera Lafayette's orchestra is Jacob Ashworth.

On July 20, 2023, Opera Lafayette announced the appointment of Patrick Dupré Quigley as Artistic Director Designate, effective immediately. Quigley formally assumed the Artistic Director role in 2025.

The company performs a split season with performances in Washington at the Kennedy Center, and in New York at Frederick P. Rose Hall.

In 2025, a collaboration between Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole plans to premiere Edmond Dédé's opera Morgiane, nearly 130 years after it was completed by the composer in 1887.

Discography

Opera Lafayette has released a few recordings, all on the Naxos label:

1. Orphée et Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck (2005)
2. Oedipe à Colone by Antonio Sacchini (2006)
3. Rameau Operatic Arias sung by Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (2007)
4. Armide by Jean-Baptiste Lully (2008)
5. Zélindor, roi des Sylphes by François Rebel and Le Trophée by François Francoeur (2009)
6. Le déserteur by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (2010)
7. Sancho Pança by François-André Danican Philidor (2011)
8. Le magnifique by André Grétry (2012)
9. Le roi et le fermier by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny (2013)
10. Lalla-Roukh by Félicien David (2014)
11. Les femmes vengées by François-André Danican Philidor (2015)
12. L'épreuve villageoise, by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, 2016
13. Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, by Rameau
14. Léonore, ou L'amour conjugal, by Pierre Gaveaux, 2018.

Selections from the above recordings are included in the two CDs accompanying a Naxos book, A–Z of Opera, 2nd Edition.

References

References

1. (22 January 2012). "Opera Lafayette presents ''Le Roi et le Fermier''". [[The Washington Post]].
2. (10 January 2014). "D.C.'s early-music company Opera Lafayette repeats the history that's been forgotten". [[The Washington Post]].
3. "Opera Lafayette". [[Opera America]].
4. (3 June 2015). "Lafayette in Alexandria: L'Hermione to Be in Port June 10–12". Connection Newspapers.
5. (27 November 2015). "Classical Music Listings for Nov. 27 – Dec. 3". [[The New York Times]].
6. (19 August 2016). "Opera in Washington – The 2016–2017 Season". DC Theatre Scene.
7. (4 February 2016). "Classical Music Listings for Feb. 5–11". [[The New York Times]].
8. "Our Team". Opera Lafayette.
9. "Our Orchestra". Opera Lafayette.
10. (20 July 2023). "Founder and Artistic Director Ryan Brown to Pass the Reins in 2025".
11. "Opera Lafayette". New York Opera Alliance.
12. O’Brien, Keith. (2025-01-28). "Found: A Manuscript That Unlocks a Forgotten Black Composer’s World". The New York Times.
13. "Opera Lafayette Orchestra". [[Naxos Records]].

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