The Opera in the High Country induction will be held on Saturday, June 29th in the historic Teller House and the Central City Opera House located on Eureka Street in Central City, 35 miles west of Denver. The special event will include a pre-ceremony reception and plated dinner with opera performances by Central City Opera apprentices. After dinner, guests will move over to the Opera House for the induction ceremony, followed by the opening night performance of Central City Opera’s 2024 Summer Festival, The Pirates of Penzance.
The special event is being held in partnership with:
Starting at $1,000 with many exclusive benefits including tickets to the Opening Night Cast Party and a historic Walking Tour of Central City
VIP tickets are $250 and include the reception, dinner and premium seating for the ceremony and The Pirates of Penzance operetta. Single ticket purchases for only the operetta and induction ceremony are also available. All tickets are available at Central City Opera box office.
As Colorado Music Hall of Fame’s first destination induction, we encourage all that come to stay the night or the weekend in lovely Central City, Colorado. Room blocks are available at both the Grand Z Casino Hotel (promo code: Opera24) and at Monarch Resort & Casino for the nights of June 28-29, 2024.
Meet the 2024 Hall of Famers:
Photo credit: Eric Chinn
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the U.S. originating in 1932 in the small mountain town of Central City, a scenic 35-mile drive west of Denver. Operating out of the Central City Opera House, a National Historic Landmark predating the opera company by 54 years, CCO’s annual summer festival showcases an impressive talent pool of artists, paired with quality music education and training. Created in 1978 by John Moriarty, CCO’s Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program is a national model for the professional development of young singers. With only 30 artists selected from 1,000 applicants each year, the competitive program has trained many of our country’s most notable opera professionals, including fellow inductees Cynthia Lawrence and Keith Miller.
Cynthia Lawrence currently serves as the Endowed Chair for Voice and Opera at the University of Kentucky School of Music. An alumna of University of Colorado Boulder, the soprano went on to become a principal artist with dozens of opera companies across the globe, as well as here in her home state including Central City Opera, Colorado Opera Festival and Fort Collins Opera. Boasting over 70 performances with Maestro Luciano Pavarotti, Cynthia Lawrence has taken on some of opera’s most iconic parts. As a dedicated music educator, Lawrence conducts Master Classes and serves as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Keith Miller is from one of Colorado’s smallest towns, Ovid, with a population of less than 300. A star football player at the University of Colorado Boulder, Miller went on to play professional football before shifting careers to opera. Miller has had an impressive musical career across the U.S., from here in Colorado serving as the Crested Butte Music Festival Opera Director for six years to the iconic Metropolitan Opera in New York City, performing as a principal artist for 18 years.
Conductor, artistic director, educator, vocal coach, singer and pianist John Moriarty was a leader in Central City Opera for more than forty years. Holding a bachelor’s degree and honorary doctor of music from the New England Conservatory of Music, Moriarty has two named opera scholarships at the Conservancy: the John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship, and the John Moriarty Encouragement Award. In his adopted town of Central City, Moriarty Lane is named after him, as is the John Moriarty Award of the Central City Opera. He was also the recipient of the National Opera Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Moriarty passed away at the age of 91 in 2022.