The National Negro Opera Company (1941–1962) was the first African-American 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 the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Organized in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, under the direction of Mary Cardwell Dawson

Mary Cardwell Dawson

Mary Cardwell Dawson was an African-American musician and teacher and the founding director of the National Negro Opera Company....

, the company was resident in a Queen Anne-style

Queen Anne Style architecture (United States)

In America, the Queen Anne style of architecture, furniture and decorative arts was popular in the United States from 1880 to 1910. In American usage "Queen Anne" is loosely used of a wide range of picturesque buildings with "free Renaissance" details rather than of a specific formulaic style in...

 house at 7101 Apple Street in the city's Homewood neighborhood.

Dawson launched NNOC in 1941 with a performance at Pittsburgh's Syria Mosque

Syria Mosque

The Syria Mosque was a performance venue, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Constructed in 1911 and dedicated in January 1912, it was designed by Huehl, Schmidt & Holmes architectural firm of Chicago....

. The star was La Julia Rhea

La Julia Rhea

La Julia Rhea was an American operatic soprano, and a pioneering African American figure in Chicago. Rhea was trained in Louisville, Kentucky and later in Chicago. She debuted in Chicago's Kimball Hall in 1929. She continued to make regular concert performances as she studied operatic roles...

, and other members included Minto Cato, Carol Brice

Carol Brice

Carol Brice was an American contralto. Born in Sedalia, North Carolina, she studied at Palmer Memorial Institute and later at Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, where she received a Bachelor of Music in 1939. She continued her studies at the Juilliard School of Music from 1939 to 1943...

, Robert McFerrin

Robert McFerrin

Robert McFerrin Sr. was the first African-American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...

, and Lillian Evanti

Lillian Evanti

Lillian Evanti , was an African American opera singer. Evanti, a soprano, debuted in 1927 in Delibes's Lakmé at Nice, France. She graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor's Degree in music and studied in France and Italy. As an opera singer and concert artist, she toured throughout...

. During its 21-year run NNOC also mounted productions in Washington D.C., New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

The company disbanded in 1962 upon Dawson's death.