About Toledo Opera Major companies in large cities hire opera’s superstars. Regional companies such as Toledo Opera create the next generation of artists and audiences. A professional company in operation since 1959, Toledo Opera provides high-quality professional training and experience to the newest singers entering the field, through our Resident Artist program and the Toledo Opera Chorus. In our recent Lucia di Lammermoor, Resident Artist Laura Reaper showed her powerful voice in the role of Alisa, singing alongside rising star Kathryn Lewek in the title role. In 2015-2016, our Resident Artists will be cast in supporting roles for all three of the season’s operas, benefiting from the opportunity to sing with major artists cast in the principal roles. The forty-five member locally based Toledo Opera Chorus, under the direction of Chorus Master Kevin Bylsma, also has the opportunity to sing with and learn from the best: our directors, conductors and visiting artists. Toledo Opera is supported by individuals, corporations and foundations throughout the region and by funding from the Ohio Arts Council. Toledo Opera is a member of OPERA America. Toledo Opera’s Mission: To enhance the cultural fabric of the region by creating opera experiences that celebrate, both in the theater and beyond its walls, what is unique to opera: dramatic, passionate stories expressed through glorious music and the powerful voices of classically trained singers.