The Nickel City Opera, also known as NCO, is an American opera company based in Buffalo, New York.^[1] ,^[2][3][4] and has commissioned a few operas and staged operatic works.^{[5] [6]}

The Nickel City Opera's residence is the Shea's Performing Arts Center, with 3,019 seats^[7] one of the big opera houses of the USA, situated in the Buffalo Theatre District of downtown Buffalo.

The opera company, NCO,^[8] was founded in 2004 by opera singer Valerian Ruminski, composer Persis Vehar, and pianist William Hicks.^{[9][10][11][12]}

The NCO has commissioned operas, and has staged world premiers of notable works.^[13]

The NCO has, thus, produced a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th- century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the 20th century and to contemporary operas of the 20th and 21st centuries.^[14]

These operas have been presented in staged productions that ranged in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs. The NCO is based at the Shea's Performing Arts Center (3.019 seats) in the Buffalo Theatre District of downtown Buffalo.^[15] Shea's Performing Arts Center was designed by the well-known Chicago firm, Rapp and Rapp.^[16] The original number of 4,000 seats was reduced to the current number of 3,019 seats in the 1930s.^[17] The interior was designed by world-renowned designer/artist Louis Comfort Tiffany using elements that are mostly still present today.^{[18] [19]}

It produced its first opera, Rossini's The Barber of Seville,^[20] in June 2009 at the Riviera Theatre. The following year, 2010, saw a production of Verdi's Rigoletto.^[21][22][23]

In its day, the NCO has had a repertoire of more than 30 operas and has staged opera productions. These productions include Il trovatore,^{[24] [25]} La Bohème,^[26] Don Pasquale,^[27] La fille du régiment, Rigoletto,^[28] Tosca,^[29] Carmen,^[30] I Pagliacci,^[31] Il tabarro,^[32] Der Schauspieldirektor,^[33][34] Le Nozze di Figaro,^[35][36] La Traviata,^[37] The Barber of Seville,^[38] Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti^[39] and The Music Shop by Richard Wargo.^[40]

The NCO collaborated with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.^[41][42]

In 2010 and for the subsequent four years, the NCO presented Gian Carlo Menotti's Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Riviera Theatre and in the Westminster Presbyterian Church (Buffalo, New York).^[43]

In 2011, it presented a production of Il tabarro by Giacomo Puccini, directed by Henry Akina on board the United States Navy warship USS The Sullivans (DD-537), a decommissioned Fletcher-class destroyer and one of Buffalo's landmarks, which serves as a museum ship and is anchored at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York.^[44] The USS The Sullivans (DD-537) served as an integral part of the staging.^[45]

The company's music director has been Matthias Manasi from 2017 to 2021.^[46]

In 2017, Matthias Manasi conducted a production of Der Schauspieldirektor by Mozart, with particular attention to historically informed performance practice which was appreciated by critics.^[47]

Singers who performed at the Nickel City Opera include: Adam Klein,^[48] Victoria Livengood,^[49] Eric Fenell,^[50] Eduardo Villa,^[51] Michele Capalbo,^[52] Marc Freiman,^[53] Ray Chenez,^[54][55] Zulimar López-Hernández,^[56][57] James Wright,^[58] David MacAdam,^[59] Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs,^[60] James Wright,^[61] and Marieterese Magisano.^[62]

In May 2017 Opera America awarded Valerian Ruminski, artistic director of Nickel City Opera, its annual Service Award which recognizes those who "promote opera in their communities and work tirelessly to ensure the highest possible artistic quality and community service."^[63] The ceremony took place in Dallas with a speech by Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of Opera America.^[64]

In June 2016, the NCO produced the world premiere of Shot! composed by Persis Vehar with libretto by Gabrielle Vehar, about the assassination of President McKinley, produced at Shea's Performing Arts Center,^{[65][66][67][68]}

^[69][70]

Michael Ching was music director of Nickel City Opera from 2012 to 2017.^[71] He was succeeded by Matthias Manasi as the company's last music director in 2017 and since 2018 there has been no official music director with various conductors filling the role for productions of Barber of Seville, Rigoletto and the U.S. Army's production of The Falling and the Rising (as many times as this page is altered incorrectly it will be restored with accurate information).^{[72][73][74][75]}