The Opera Company of the Highlands is an arts cooperative in the Hudson Valley dedicated to the twin ideals of artistic excellence and community service. While producing professional-quality opera, accessible in both location and price, for diverse audiences in the Hudson Valley and beyond, OCH models the arts as a medium for community building and personal growth and provides hands-on training and experience in opera and all of its component art forms and support disciplines to Hudson Valley residents of all ages and walks of life. Through complementary outreach programs, The company seeks to actively expand, involve, and mirror its diverse community.
Founded in the spring of 2005 by the distinguished American soprano Claudia Cummings, the Opera Company of the Highlands has presented eleven full-length operas, including La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, Hansel and Gretel, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Rigoletto, as well as numerous concerts and outreach events. It is a 501(c)(3) independent non-profit performing arts organization.
Claudia Cummings, Founder and Artistic Director Emerita
Distinguished American soprano Claudia Cummings, Artistic Director Emerita of Opera Company of the Highlands, founded and incorporated the company in 2005 after she and her husband, Shakespearean actor Jack Aranson, retired from the stage to live and work in Orange County, New York. Cummings has sung leading roles in over 60 operas, including Lucia di Lammermoor, The Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figaro, The Rake's Progress, I pagliacci, Lulu, Capriccio, Romeo and Juliet, Faust, The Barber of Seville, Tales of Hoffmann, Rigoletto, La traviata, and Satyagraha, at companies including San Francisco Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera. Ms. Cummings made her New York City Opera debut in 1985 at the invitation of Beverly Sills and remained with the company for ten years, singing leading roles in The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Street Scene, Akhnaten, Die Soldaten, and The Magic Flute. She has sung more than 600 performances as the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music. She was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, New York in 1996.
| Board of Directors: Claudia Cummings, Founder and Artistic Director Emerita Richard Simms, Executive Director Rose Wolvek, Artistic Advisor Robbie Bertola, Secretary Marianna Kennedy Rev. David Mason Keith Nieto Terri Vargas |