1904
Gounod's Faust, Tulsa's first documented opera, is performed at the Epperson Opera House on the second floor of the Williamson Brothers store, at what is now the intersection of Main and Archer.
Timeline
1906
The Grand Opera House opens on 2nd Street between Boston and Cincinnati with a comic opera, The Chaperones.
1914
Tulsa Commercial Club founder L.J. Martin helps open Convention Hall, featuring appearances by great stars of the day like soprano Mary Garden and bass Feodor Chaliapin, and the world-famous tenor Enrico Caruso.
1928
Tulsa is chosen as one of the coveted tour stops for the highly-acclaimed new American opera, The King's Henchman, by Deems Taylor and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
1933
The Great Depression fails to dampen Tulsa's enthusiasm for opera. Oklahoma's first outdoor opera, Aïda, is a community effort produced at Skelly Field, boasting an opening night crowd that remains the largest recorded audience for an opera in the state's history.
1948
At the encouragement of prominent local piano teacher Bess Gowans, Tulsa native Ione Sassano and her husband Ralph Sassano form the Tulsa Opera Club and produce Verdi's La traviata at Central High School's South Auditorium.
1951
The Tulsa Opera Club changes its name to Tulsa Opera, Inc. Maud Lorton Meyers, a co-owner of the Tulsa World and founding Tulsa Opera Board Member, purchases the house at 1610 S. Boulder to serve as company headquarters, where the offices stand to this day.
1953
For the first time, TO imports major stars for their production of Madama Butterfly, achieving national prominence. New York stage director Anthony Stivanello becomes a TO fixture for the following 20 years. Ralph Sassano resigns as General Manager, and Charles Ellis replaces him with the title Production Coordinator.
1955
The Guild of Tulsa Opera is formed to support the opera through education and fundraising.
1959
Tulsa Opera continues its rise as a producer of grand opera with an all-star cast for Il trovatore, starring Jussi Björling and Leonard Warren, possibly the greatest tenor and baritone of the time. Jeannette Turner takes leadership of the company as Manager and Executive Director.
1961
The Guild of Tulsa Opera establishes a children's opera workshop, setting a precedent for educational programming at Tulsa Opera that remains a cornerstone of its mission today.
1966
Laven Sowell makes his debut as chorusmaster with Turandot, a position he would hold until 1994.