First Coast Opera

06/04/2026

With our 2026-2027 season announcement just around the corner, we're excited to offer new donor benefits designed to bring you closer to the art you love. Depending on giving level, benefits include early access to tickets, special events, and exclusive artist experiences.
Every gift, at every level, makes our work possible.
🎁 Donate Today: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?donation=fcop

📩 Questions about giving? We'd love to hear from you. Contact Edward Brennan, Director of Development, at [email protected] to learn more, discuss your gift, or simply start a conversation.

05/28/2026

A heartfelt thank you to Saint Anastasia Catholic Church, Zoika's Dance, and Christian Science Saint Augustine for providing rehearsal space during our 2025–2026 season. These in-kind partnerships make it possible for our artists and productions to thrive.

Interested in becoming a rehearsal space partner? We’d love to connect. https://www.firstcoastopera.org/contact

05/21/2026

May 21, 1892 - in opera history, Leoncavallo’s PAGLIACCI premiered in Milan, Italy and it's been a lasting part of pop culture ever since. From TV and film, to theater and cartoons, its iconic clown and the heartbreaking aria "Vesti la giubba" have made Canio one of the most-recognized opera roles in modern history.

Watch a few highlights from our 2018 production, courtesy of FirstCoast.tv
▶ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjyBEh9L-kA&&t=7m35s

Historic City, Timeless Opera, Lasting Legacy

05/16/2026

OPERAtunity tonight in Jacksonville! Bold City Opera has lined up some of our favorite singers fo this fundraiser cabaret. Hope to see you there!

Tickets are officially live for Encores and Evolution!

Join us for our first annual fundraiser cabaret as we honor our past and ignite our future.

Hear our story unfold through song and learn about our vision for our coming seasons.

This is more than a performance - it is a celebration of growth, artistry, and the journey ahead.

A special optional VIP Experience will allow you to meet the artists and join us for a special post-show toast.

Tickets are available at www.boldcityopera.org or by visiting the link in our bio.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day from your First Coast Opera family. 🎶

05/06/2026

⚾ On deck for Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a song from THE MIGHTY CASEY! Yes, there's a baseball opera! It was written in 1953 by William Schuman and you can listen to it on YouTube.

The Mighty Casey is the first of William Schuman's two operas. The composer, being a great baseball fan, created music to go with writer Jeremy Gury's libre...

05/05/2026

A NATIONAL PASTIME, A PERSONAL TRIBUTE
by Curtis Tucker, General & Artistic Director of First Coast Opera

Music and baseball might seem like strange bedfellows, but this combination is particularly meaningful for me. My Dad died in 2002. He was my first music teacher and my first baseball coach. These two activities not only dominated my youth, but have remained present throughout my life. I still do them both, one as vocation and one as avocation, with my Dad's memory ever present.

So these songs, which I chose from the sheet music collection at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, are nostalgic in many of the most wonderful ways. Everyone knows "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," which premiered in 1908. Its immediate popularity inspired other composers of the day to write songs about baseball. But you don't need to know much about baseball to appreciate these songs.

Sure, they refer to many baseball-related things, but they are also storytelling vignettes about love and relationships, often through humor, and always with melodic and catchy tunes. I hope you will join us and enjoy this program. I will be there, and so will, at least in my heart and mind, my Dad.

⚾ Take Me Out to the Ball Game - Friday, May 8th @ 12pm at The Waterworks - Romanza St. Augustine