Manitoba Opera is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 company in Winnipeg, Manitoba that was founded in 1969. Its first production was a concert of Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...

's Il Trovatore

Il trovatore

Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...

 in 1972. Manitoba Opera is one of several western Canadian opera companies that flourished under the inspired leadership of Irving Guttman, internationally-renowned opera director. He has been instrumental in the development of many young Canadian singers, including Winnipeg native Tracy Dahl (soprano) and Winkler's Phillip Ens (bass). Both have gone on to international careers.

Live music for Manitoba Opera productions is provided by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

In November 2007, the company staged its first original production, Transit of Venus, composed by Victor Davies, with a libretto by Maureen Hunter, based on her stage play of the same name.

Manitoba Opera is based at the Centennial Concert Hall

Centennial Concert Hall

The Centennial Concert Hall, as part of the Manitoba Centennial Centre, was built as a Canadian Centennial project. With seating for over 2,300 people, the Concert Hall is the performing home of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Opera and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.The concert hall cost...

.