Founded in 1955 as the Birmingham Civic Opera, the present day Opera Birmingham came into being due to efforts of a voice teacher at Birmingham-Southern College, Martha Dick McClung. The first production of the company was a fully-staged performance of The Bartered Bride by the Czech composer Smetana. The Bartered Bride was quickly followed up with a production of Madame Butterfly by Puccini.
Through the early years, the company continued to produce both unusual works and acknowledged standards of the repertoire. Among the more unique contemporary works staged by the company were Kurt Weill’s Down in the Valley, Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, Gian-Carlo Menotti’s The Consul, and Douglas Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe. These works joined the popular masterpieces of Puccini (La Bohème, Tosca), Mozart (The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte), Verdi (La Traviata, Rigoletto) and Bizet (Carmen) in making up the company’s more than sixty seasons.
In 1986, Birmingham Civic Opera and Southern Regional Opera merged to form Birmingham Opera Theatre. Birmingham Opera Theatre continued the Annual Vocal Competition started by Southern Regional Opera. The Competition continues to play an important role in the mission of the company. Not only has it fostered continued opera education, but it has also served as an important stepping stone in the careers of three generations of American opera singers. Many of our recent winners – sopranos Leah Partridge and Melinda Whittington, mezzo Alyssa Martin, tenor Bryan Hymel, and baritone Corey McKern – have performed substantial roles in recent seasons.
The company’s Education Outreach Program expanded in 2000. Seymour Barab’s Little Red Riding Hood was performed to over 26,000 area schoolchildren in some 70 performances in 2001 and 2002 using a cast of professional young singers from Birmingham, Knoxville, Montgomery, Jacksonville and Tuscaloosa. Opera Birmingham’s commitment to education has continued with programs for adults and college students. New programs, such as their Opera Shots pop-up concerts, provide unique ways for people to try opera in fun environments.
Opera Birmingham is a member of 
.
T. Brooks Proctor
President
Matthew Penfield
Vice President
Tom Barnett
Treasurer
Mary K. Jackson
Recording Secretary
Martha Pezrow
Corresponding Secretary
Dr. Andrew Duxbury
Immediate Past President
Todd Campbell
David P. Donahue
Heyward C. Hosch, III
Nicole King
Katy Ottensmeyer
Keith Rogers III
Ann Thomas
Karyn Uptain
Brian Viliunas
Lee L. Woehle
LIFE MEMBERS
Jane M. Hinds
Dr. Julius E. Linn
Dorinda Smith
Opera Birmingham acknowledges that we are on the traditional land of the Kosati speaking Mvskoke (Muscogee/Creek) People. Alabama has been home to the Alabama, Biloxi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Mobile Tribes—including the Abihka, Alabama-Coushatta, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and the Yuchi Peoples—and is home to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama, the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama, the Machis Lower Creek Tribe, the Mowa Band of Choctaw, and the Star Clan of Muskogee Creeks. We honor and thank the Indigenous peoples connected to this territory and give gratitude to this land.