The Creative Opera Company, Ltd. is a registered
501(c)(3) Not-For-Profit organization established in 1969 by
Ellen Chandler (Frances Eberman) with the purpose of
bringing opera to the community-at-large.
Ellen Chandler has a mission to share her grand passion for
opera. She believes that everyone deserves to have an
exposure to live opera regardless of their musical
education, background, or ability to afford to attend such
performances.
The Creative Opera Company's first performance in 1969 was a
fund raiser for Lincoln Square Academy, a private NYC school
for students in the performing arts. In 1972, the Creative
Opera Company brought an updated English version of
Cavelleria Rusticana into the adolescent division of Rikers
Island. The opera was followed by a light rock 'n roll
program which was arranged and played by the adult inmate
musicians. It was the first (and perhaps the only) time
opera had been brought into a criminal holding facility in
the United States. Speight Jenkins of Opera News wrote a
glowing review of the performance.
In 1973, the Creative Opera Company produced La Traviata,
fully staged and costumed, at the Provincetown Theater in
Greenwich Village, NYC, which also incorporated multimedia.
Throughout the years the Creative Opera Company has produced
numerous productions across the tri-state metropolitan area
and in Florida in schools, universities, and senior
residences. Ellen Chandler plans to continue to arrange such
performances in the future.
Ellen Chandler is a member of JASA Club 76 and brings the
Creative Opera Company to perform at JASA. On November 2,
2012 she began presenting programs at JASA and other senior
citizen venues.
Click here to view and download the Creative Opera Company Brochure.