The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center is a finalist for this year’s Spark Award for Arts Organization of the Year, an award that honors a nonprofit or for-profit arts organization for its achievements in the preceding year. The organization has been enhancing the cultural landscape of Chautauqua County since its grand reopening in November 1994, and in 2019—its 25th year—it celebrated its growth from a performance space for local arts groups to a fully fledged venue presenting national and international artists with a new name and logo: 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center.
The name change reflects the breadth and variety of its current programming while paying tribute to its history. Its programs include live music, theater, and dance; an independent cinema series; live high-definition satellite broadcasts of opera productions from New York City’s Metropolitan Opera, theater from London’s National Theatre, and ballet from Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet; an annual three-day Bach & Beyond Baroque Music Festival; and the Art & Architecture On Screen series of programs focusing on masterpieces and their museum custodians. In total, the venue has presented more than 2,890 programs since its reopening 25 years ago.
Chautauqua County is fortunate to have what many consider a thriving arts community. Against a broad cultural background, the 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center has created a niche for itself as a year-round presenter of varied and quality entertainment.
For more information on ASI’s seventh annual Spark Awards’ virtual presentation on Monday, November 16 at 7:00 pm, visit the Spark page of our website.
