About Us

Founded in 1995 by Dorota Sobieska and Jacek Sobieski, Opera Circle presents live performances of operatic masterpieces for the enjoyment of the general public in Cleveland.Through the timeless beauty of music and the highest artistic standards, Opera Circle's productions bring together soloists, chorus, orchestra, staging, dance, costumes, sets, and audience.

Opera Circle produced twenty-seven operas in Italian, German, Polish, and English, with English text projected on a screen during the performance. Furthermore, Opera Circle continually organizes a vibrant series of choral and instrumental concerts, lecture programs, and symposia. Opera Circle's highest artistic standards have been recognized by press and media.

Headquartered in the Slavic Village, the company appears throughout Cleveland in venues such as St. Stanislaus Church, the Polish-American Cultural Center, Bohemian National Hall, Alliance of Poles Auditorium, St. Ann Church, and numerous other locations. In addition, it has appeared in Reinberger Hall at Severance Hall, the Kent Fashion Museum, the KSU Auditorium, Chamber Hall at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, Fairmount Temple, and Grace Lutheran Church. Focused on Cleveland, in the past Opera Circle extended its activities to Kent, Bainbridge, Boardman, Youngstown, Canton, and Chagrin Falls.

Having established itself as a distinct musical entity with the works of Bellini and Mozart, Opera Circle has also successfully staged works by Verdi, Donizetti, Leoncavallo, Humperdinck, and the Polish composers Stanislaw Moniuszko, Karol Szymanowski, and Jan Maklakiewicz.

Opera Circle serves wide public by maintaining a fine balance of two directions, as one feeds the other. The two directions may be summarized as:

1. Opera Circle Classics Series, including traditionally produced opera presented at the Bohemian National Hall, a miniature opera house from Prague. Simply beautiful.

2. Open Form Opera presented at non-standard locations, taking beautiful music and phrasing as the springboard to creating unique and fascinating productions that challenge the traditional restrictive, closural view of the genre.

The innovative chamber format of Opera Circle reaches the height of artistic inspiration while fostering community involvement and encourages each individual involved in the creative process to actively participate, performer and audience alike, by unfolding his or her own unique gift of imagination.