Scottish Opera Information

Scottish Opera is Scotland’s national opera company and the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. The Company was founded by Alexander Gibson and was inaugurated with a production of Madama Butterfly at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow. In 1974 Scottish Opera purchased the Theatre Royal Glasgow, which reopened in 1975 as Scotland’s first national opera house. The Orchestra of Scottish Opera was founded in 1980. Notable achievements include the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Ines de Castro at the 1996 Edinburgh International Festival and complete Ring cycles at the 2003 Festival, which won the 2004 South Bank Show Award for Best Opera Production. Recent commissions include Five:15 Operas Made in Scotland, part of a five-year research and development project to find the next generation of opera-makers. We are committed to bringing the widest possible range of opera, performed to the highest possible standards, to the maximum audience throughout Scotland and the UK; each year we performs in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness and over 50 other theatres, village halls and community centres. We also operate an extensive programme of outreach and education work which involves over 12,000 primary school children a year, as well as many other activities including adult learning and Unwrapped taster sessions. Scottish Opera’s income is derived from public subsidy, box office and private and commercial support. The Company is funded by the Scottish Government.