Lyric Opera of Virginia is anopera company based in theCommonwealth of Virginia. Its leader is Peter Mark, who was the Artistic Director of theVirginia Opera for 36 years.[1] Although Mark's contract with Virginia Opera was set to expire at the end of May 2012, the Virginia Opera's executive committee terminated Mark on November 18, 2010.[1] In 2003, Virginia Opera's board assigned Mark's administrative leadership duties to Paul A. "Gus" Stuhlreyer, leaving Mark with the titles of music director, artistic director and principal conductor.[1] On January 9, 2011, Mark, Edythe Harrison, and others announced the formation of a competing opera organization to be called "Lyric Opera of Virginia."[2]
Its first season in 2011-12 Lyric Opera of Virginia presented Verdi'sLa Traviata,[3] Rogers and Hammerstein'sThe King and I,[4] and an abridged production ofCarmen at theSandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach, the Center for the Performing Arts atChristopher Newport University in Newport News, the Landmark and Carpenter Theatres in Richmond, and a venue in Northern Virginia.[5] The first season's budget was $2.5 million.[2] In 2013 the company stagedGiuseppe Verdi'sFalstaff in honor of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth.[6]
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