OperaUSA is dedicated to the democratization of Lyric Theatre — the world of Opera, Operetta, and Musical Theatre — by giving a place in our directory to every professional who vies to take part in sung theatrical performances, whether as a singer, conductor, stage director, pianist, stage designer, painter, costume builder, lighting designer, hairdresser, shoe maker, video creator, or any other artist whose craft brings a production to life.
Every member maintains a complete artistic biography — a full account of their professional life and achievements. For singers, the biography also lists the roles they have mastered: each role is entered under its Composer, Opera or Show title, and Role name. A singer may join the directory without listing any roles at all and add to their repertoire at any time as their career grows. Singers are also encouraged to note any special skills that may be relevant to a production — horse riding, fencing, ballet, modern dance, acrobatics, or any other stage skill that distinguishes them.
Directors and producers may search for singers by role name and immediately see every singer in our database who knows that role. They may also browse at random — discovering singers they would never have found through the traditional channels of word of mouth and personal acquaintance. The contact information of every artist is available to registered members of the platform, so that a director in one country can reach a singer in another as easily as sending an email.
OperaUSA also warmly welcomes the rosters of professional artist management companies. Agents are invited to register their artists on this platform — when they do, the contact information displayed for each artist is the agent's, not the singer's. This means a prospective employer searching for a particular voice type or role can compare artists from several different agencies side by side, and contact the appropriate representative directly. We seek not to compete with artist management, but to complement it — and to give every artist, whether managed or independent, an equal opportunity to be found.
Beyond maintaining this platform, OperaUSA actively mounts performances throughout the United States and internationally — in any town, village, or city that offers us a stage. We enlist existing theaters, concert halls, opera houses, university auditoriums, shopping malls, outdoor parks and plazas, archaeological amphitheaters, and every other venue that can seat an audience. Our goal is not to anchor ourselves to a single home, but to bring Lyric Theatre everywhere. This is the vision at the heart of OperaUSA: great performance, in every community that will have us.
Most opera companies are anchored to a single home theater, performing for audiences in great cities that already have abundant cultural offerings. OperaUSA takes a different path entirely. We perform wherever we are invited — and our most important audiences are in the places that the established opera world has never reached. From New York to Poughkeepsie, from Rome to Casteldaccia, Sicily — any community that can welcome a visiting performing group is a community we want to serve.
We call this the democracy of performance: the belief that Lyric Theatre belongs everywhere — in small-town community halls, university stages, shopping malls, outdoor parks and squares, and ancient archaeological amphitheaters and historical temples where the art form finds its most breathtaking settings. To our knowledge, no other organization has pursued this mission at a global scale, on a permanent and ongoing basis.
The connections our platform makes — between singers, conductors, directors, designers, and the communities that receive them — are what make this vision possible.
Traditional opera companies are tied to a single city and a single venue. OperaUSA is designed from the ground up to travel — every venue in our directory is a potential home for a production.
We are a registered 501(c)(3). There are no investors to satisfy, no profit motive to corrupt our decisions. Every subscription and every donation goes back into connecting more artists with more productions.
Joining OperaUSA is free. We will never charge an artist simply for the right to be discovered. Our platform exists to open doors, not to put up new ones.
Our mission extends beyond the United States. The democracy of performance means a soprano in Buenos Aires can be found by a producer in Berlin, and a director in Seoul can reach the right baritone in Chicago.
Professional artist management agencies are welcome to register their entire rosters here. Managed artists are listed with the agent's contact information — so employers reach the right representative directly. We complement the work of agents, never compete with it.
OperaUSA is not only for singers. Conductors, stage directors, pianists, designers, costume makers, lighting professionals, and every other artist who brings a production to life — all are welcome to maintain a profile in our directory.
These are the kinds of productions and events OperaUSA aims to bring to the world — in venues large and small, in cities with long opera traditions and in places that have never heard a live performance.
Complete staged performances of the operatic repertoire — from Mozart to Verdi to contemporary works
Broadway and off-Broadway shows traveling to stages that rarely see world-class live performance
Intimate performances for any room with a piano — university halls, community centers, private venues
Singer recitals with full orchestra — bringing the grandeur of the concert hall to venues worldwide
Every donation helps us bring opera to a new city, fund a singer's membership, or help a producer cast their next show. OperaUSA is 100% non-profit — your gift goes directly into the mission.