This website is an archive of the initiatives about opera developed within the Music Department of the University of Pennsylvania since ca. 2014. These initiatives, gathered under the umbrella term “Opera at Penn,” are inspired by the belief that this 400-year-old multimedia art form offers extraordinary opportunities to develop student talent and competence in a variety of areas (also beyond music) and to bring scholarly and performing communities together, at Penn and beyond.

The activities of “Opera at Penn” encompass:

• the collaboration with Opera Philadelphia, including Penn students’ talks and their observation of the opera production process, as well as artists’ visits to Penn. See the article in Penn Current.
• the Opera Workshop: a series of informal lecture/discussions which was held on Fridays in the three academic years from 2014 to 2017;
• the Penn Opera Scenes, which provide performance opportunities for Penn’s singers, music directors, pianists, and stage directors (with varying levels of experience) to explore the operatic genre and to bridge performance activities and academic courses.