Fort Worth Opera Festival

Fort Worth Opera was founded in 1946 and is the oldest continually performing opera company in Texas, and one of the 14 oldest opera companies in the United States. Under the leadership of General Director Darren Keith Woods since 2001, the company has gained national attention from critics and audiences alike for its artistic quality and willingness to take risks. Known throughout the operatic world as a champion of new and rarely performed works, the company has taken a leadership role in producing contemporary operas. In 2007, when the company changed its fall/winter schedule to a condensed one-month long Festival in the spring, FWO staged its first world premiere, Frau Margot; and followed up the next season with Angels in America (which resulted in More Life, a community-wide collaboration amongst organizations in the performing and visual arts, children’s education, medicine, and social services), Dead Man Walking in 2009, and the world premiere of Before Night Falls in 2010. The company’s CD recordings of Frau Margot and Before Night Falls are available on the Albany label.