THE SEATTLE TOUR 2011 This text will be replaced by the flash music player. Marion Oliver McCaw Hall opened on June 28, 2003. Designed by LMN Architects, featuring the work of interior designer Deborah Sussman, artist Leni Schwendinger, and the landscape designers of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd. The new Hall fulfills nearly ten years of hard work and dedication from the staffs of Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Seattle Center. Between December 2001 and June 2003, more than 775 construction workers from the Skanska construction company turned Seattle Opera's former home into the new Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. The dramatic transformation was visible from the street, and opera and ballet patrons on their way to the temporary Mercer Arts Arena could watch as the outer shells of the original 1962 and 1927 buildings were stripped away and replaced with a gleaming glass curtain wall. More than 70% of the old building was replaced by the new construction. Behind the façade, exciting changes took place. A new auditorium, lobbies, backstage, orchestra pit, and café were created. Wiring, plumbing, and HVAC systems-some dating back to 1927-were replaced. And a new lecture hall was added, as were additional restrooms, a coat check, and Amusements, a gift shop. The new hall opened on time on June 28. On June 29, the front-page news was: "McCaw Hall is a Hit."

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Porgy and Bess

By George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin

Gershwin's portrait of life and love on Catfish Row boasts some of the most beloved songs ever written, including "Summertime," "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin,'" "I Loves You, Porgy," and "It Ain't Necessarily So." Richly drawn characters experience real-life emotions in this one-of-a-kind masterpiece that combines action, humor, romance, struggle, and celebration to distill something universal about the American experience.

By Georges Bizet

Bizet's sexy thriller about a soldier's ill-fated obsession with the ultimate femme fatale is arguably the world's most popular opera. Featuring truly brilliant orchestration, an unrivaled procession of hit tunes, and a stage full of gypsies, smugglers, factory girls, and "tor-ee-a-dors," Carmen packs all the sizzle of Spanish culture into an irresistible theatrical event.

By Giuseppe Verdi

The King of the Huns and his conquering hordes clash with cunning women warriors and a scheming Roman general in this dramatic work of historical fiction from the undisputed Italian master. Complete with assassination plots, dirty politics, and plenty of pomp and circumstance, this rousing showdown between good and evil boasts expressive melodies, glorious choral pieces, and stand-out arias.

By Christoph Willibald Gluck

This sumptuous and exhilarating account of the legendary Greek hero's descent into the underworld to rescue his true love changed the course of musical storytelling forever. With its perfectly crafted libretto and generous helping of exceptional music - evocative choral passages, imaginative ballets, dramatic duets, and the hero's famous lament - Orpheus conveys a timeless message of love's power to triumph over all.

By Giacomo Puccini

A Japanese maiden catches the fancy of a caddish American Naval officer, crosses cultural boundaries to become his bride, and grapples with a serious dilemma while faithfully awaiting his return. Puccini's story of tradition, romance, yearning, and sacrifice has been one of the world's most beloved operas for over a century.

Founded in 1963, Seattle Opera is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. The company is recognized internationally for the quality of its productions and as the pre-eminent presenter of opera in the United States.

While under the direction of its founding general director Glynn Ross, Seattle Opera's noteworthy accomplishments included presenting the 1970 world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's opera Of Mice and Men, the 1971 first fully staged production of The Who's rock opera Tommy, and the 1972 world premiere of Pasatieri's Black Widow. In 1975, Seattle Opera gave its first complete cycle of Ring des Nibelungen in one week, an event that had not happened in the United States since 1939 (and unique outside of New York). This Ring festival continued for nine consecutive summers until 1984.

Under the leadership of General Director Speight Jenkins, who succeeded Ross in 1983, Seattle Opera has created a host of landmark productions. Among them are the 1984 Ballad of Baby Doe, the 1988 Orphée et Eurydice, the 1989 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the 1990 Dialogues des Carmélites and War and Peace, the 1993 Pelléas et Mélisande with sets by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly, and two new productions of Ring des Nibelungen. In August of 2003, the company inaugurated its new state-of-the-art home, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, with a new production of Parsifal which ranked among the company's finest artistic achievements. Outstanding presentations of the last four seasons have included new productions built by Seattle Opera of Carmen, Ariadne auf Naxos, Les contes d'Hoffmann, Macbeth, and Don Giovanni. As part of its commitment to fostering the music of Wagner, the company presented the first International Wagner Competition in 2006. The second IWC is scheduled for August 2008.

In the last 20 years, Seattle Opera has gone beyond the standard repertoire to present such operas as Handel's Xerxes and Julius Caesar, Delibes' Lakmé, Weber's Freischütz, and Britten's Turn of the Screw. In October 2007, Seattle Opera premiered a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera of Gluck's Iphigenia in Tauris.

During Jenkins' tenure, the company also has co-produced such new American works as Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas, the final version of Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra, and a revised version of Jake Heggie's End of the Affair. A new American opera, Amelia, has been commissioned to be presented in 2010 in Seattle.

Seattle Opera's artistic achievements have been widely enjoyed by the public-the company has attained, on an opera-by-opera basis, the highest per capita attendance of any major opera company in the U.S. In addition to serving high numbers of people through its mainstage offerings, Seattle Opera serves thousands more through its groundbreaking education programs, its building of sets for other companies, and its assumption of special projects, such as repairing the Monorail doors for the City of Seattle. For now and for the future, Seattle Opera remains committed to its mission of "producing musically extraordinary, theatrically compelling operas."

Seattle, State, Opera & tickets

The interior of the McCaw Hall

Please contact us here for Seattle Opera tickets and information

Seattle, State, Opera & tickets