No one knows at this point who planted the first seeds, or who first suggested that there be an opera in Shreveport. It could have been any number of people, for in the late 1940s, many music lovers were beginning to ask why Shreveport could not have its own symphony and its own opera.

The first step was to inquire how many musicians would be interested in the formation of an orchestra. The search for a conductor could begin only after a group of musicians were committed to the project. A committee began to work on this, but it proved a difficult task. How could one approach a conductor to accept a position without knowing what size his orchestra would be or how much he could be paid?

It was Mrs. Joanna Glassell Wood who solved the problem. She had discovered a young violinist and conductor teaching in the college town of Natchitoches. She persuaded Ralph Squires to offer him a position at Centenary College’s School of Music that would support him while the orchestra was being organized and funds were being raised.

That solved the problem of who would play the music. The next question was who would sing it. The committee, having a good beginning on the orchestra, turned its attention to the next phase, the organization of an opera association.

Mrs. Helen Ruffin Marshall, at that time head of the voice department at Centenary, told Mrs. Wood, “I can find the singers and other personnel if you can raise the money.”

This initial group working to develop an opera association invited Walter Herbert, the Director of the New Orleans Opera Association, to visit and tell them what they needed to make the dream a reality.

The list was daunting. Opera is a very complex art form, requiring not only musicians, singers, and sometimes dancers, but also all the arts involved in stage production: sets, lighting, costumes, and personnel to create them and move them around. However, this core group of true believers was convinced that, given the presence of so many talented artists in the city and region, there was no reason an opera company should be impossible. There were performers, there were patrons who wanted to see the performers…what more was needed?

In 1948, an opera workshop directed by Mrs. Marshall presented Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, Pergolesi’s The Music Master, and Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief. The following year, the Workshop produced two performances each of Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

The original members of the committee working toward an opera association were:

Dr. H. Whitney Boggs Mr. Harry Stevens Mrs. Percy N. Browne Mrs. Patrick White Mr. and Mrs. Penn Courtney

Mr. and Mrs. Scott Wilkinson Mrs. Helen R. Marshall Mrs. W.F. Woods Mrs. Edward Neild, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Bowman Whited

This committee met on June 13, 1949 and decided to invite Walter Herbert and the New Orleans Opera Association to put on a performance here, as a demonstration of what could be accomplished. The New Orleans Opera had been in existence for only six years, and already it was presenting seven operas a year with top artists. The committee also formally voted to establish a non-profit organization called the Shreveport Civic Opera Association; members were assigned to work on the charter and articles of incorporation.  

The first production of the fledgling Opera Association was Carmen, with Ramon Vinay, Winifred Heidt and Walter Cassel. The boys chorus from Broadmoor Junior High were the street urchins, and men from the Opera Workshop were the soldiers. The chorus was borrowed from New Orleans; among its members was Charles Caruso who later, under the name of Charles Anthony, sang at the Met. Mr. Herbert conducted.

The following year the Association presented La Traviata, and was able, within this short time, to muster its own chorus and local ballet. The talent was there, and there was a talent of another sort present as well. Opera is not only the most complex of the performing arts; it is also the most expensive. Fund raising was essential to the survival of the young Association. Mrs. Dewey Somdal became one of the stars in this area. What is more, all the fine old opera traditions were being established – after the performance of La Traviata, there was an Opera Ball. This second production was also accompanied by Shreveport’s first opera preview. About ten days before the performance, Mrs. Lalia Hurst White presented an “Operalogue” at the Junior League House.

The artistic direction of the Association for many years fell to Dr. Joseph Loewenstein. After a time, he turned over the reins to Mark Melson, who later joined the Dallas Symphony. Mr. Melson held the position for three years. In 1980, Mr. Robert Murray came to Shreveport Opera as Artistic Director and General Manager. He guided the organization until 1996, when Joseph Illick took over as Artistic Director, and in January of 1997, Gayle Norton succeeded as General Manager. The organization was headed by Eric Dillner, a former operatic tenor and director, who served as both Artistic Director and General Director from 2001 until 2008. Currently, Steve Aiken is guiding the company as the General and Artistic Director with experience both on and off the stage.

The sixty seasons of Shreveport Opera have been, no doubt, filled with the ups and downs of any organization that survives for so long a period. Its dedicated founders have left a legacy of both excellence and enthusiasm that will carry Shreveport Opera into the future. Those who love the arts have an enduring debt of gratitude to those first men and women who had a vision of Shreveport as the home of opera, and were willing to work to see it come true.