Long Beach Opera

Double the impact of your gift! 

All donations toward this fundraiser will be generously matched up to $10,000 thanks to a charitable board member.

Long Beach Opera (LBO), Southern California’s pioneering opera company since 1979, has a proud legacy of shattering norms and redefining the future of the art form. We’re a home for bold artistic experimentation, where people from diverse artistic and cultural backgrounds come together to create uniquely immersive, thought-provoking work of the highest caliber. Our efforts extend far beyond the opera world, as we strive to redefine what opera can be and make the arts more accessible for our whole community. Donate to Long Beach Opera, and help us create the future of art together.

Support art that inspires. 

LBO has a storied history of creating unique experiences that start conversations, with:

• 40+ years of excellence. Did you know, we’re the oldest opera company in Southern California? 
• 100+ productions. Our repertoire is diverse and innovative, ranging from the early Baroque era to daring, contemporary works. We produce work throughout Long Beach and Southern California in a range of venues—even staging an opera in a parking lot during the pandemic.
• Critically acclaimed world premieres. We’ve had the honor of commissioning and presenting world premieres that have garnered critical acclaim, including visionary composer Kate Soper’s The Romance of the Rose (2023), labeled an “Operatic Triumph” by the LA Times, and Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Davis’ The Central Park Five (2022).

Support art that unites.

Our productions to push artistic boundaries and blend disciplines, like:

• Contemporary music. Our latest season was solely composed of new music, featuring Alyssa Weinberg's textural, transcendent score in Isola (2024), Kate Soper’s philosophical Ipsa Dixit (2024), and Pauline Oliveros' dissonant, sonic meditation in our debut live interpretation of her work Bye Bye Butterfly (2024).
• Film. We’ve staged work in former silent movie theaters, had our director operate a steadicam to livestream a performance, and even produced our own opera short films. We’re also the only opera company that hosts its own film festival.
• Dance. We frequently merge dance with opera, collaborating with choreographer Chris Emile on The Horse (2023) and proudly partnering with the renowned Martha Graham Dance Company, featuring their dancers in productions like The Feast (2023) alongside Polish breakdancing countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński.
• Poetry. Many of our works are deeply connected to poetry, including Isola (2024), with a libretto by award-winning poet J. Mae Barizo, and our upcoming commission The Passion of Nell featuring a libretto by the critically acclaimed poet Lisa Teasley.

& so much more. 

Support art that engages.

We’re dedicated to building and giving back to our community, through:

• Our education program. 
  • LBO has served 3,000+ local students per year through our Opera@School programs under LBO’s Opera Encounter at 24 Title I (low income) schools.
  • We’ve staged 52+ free in-school performances in the last 10 years.
• Our local events include free artist talks and looks behind the scenes to open pre/post-show receptions for every show, featuring complimentary drinks & hors d'oeuvres.

LBO also partners with local venues like the Long Beach Art Theatre, Alder & Sage, Compound, Museum of Latin American Art, The Queen Mary, The Beverly O'Neill Theater, L’Opera Ristorante & Rancho Los Cerritos.

And we’re always making an effort to support emerging, diverse artists whose voices are underrepresented in classical opera.

Testimonials

"...an operatic triumph" -The Los Angeles Times

"The company has an extraordinary record of supporting contemporary work... [James] Darrah appears poised to extend that legacy." -The New Yorker

"[The performance had the] ability to stick in the mind and soul." -The New York Times

"To leave the theater dazed by a new opera — that operates on several topsy-turvy levels at once propelled by nonstop invention — is one thing. To be still processing where the humor ends and the meaning begins, even after time to reflect, is another much rarer and more valuable thing." -The Los Angeles Times