Beginnings and commitment

The seed that grew into Boheme Opera was planted in 1981 in the form of a musicians’ guild called The Boheme Club that was named after the club formed by opera composer, Giacomo Puccini. Developed by Trenton conductor/educator Joseph Pucciatti and his wife, concert pianist, opera lecturer and teacher Sandra Milstein-Pucciatti, the Club presented eight evolutionary years of concert series, outdoor festivals and dinner opera, before evolving into opera producer and presenter in 1989.

As a generational company, Boheme Opera has gained such recognition as three Citations of Excellence in 2007, 2008 and 2009 from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. We have consistently featured unprecedented diversity in our casting, as well as offering main stage opportunities to children’s choruses, teenage choristers, emerging and established artists, and persons with disabilities.

cultural and corporate collaborations

Boheme Opera has collaborated with a vast array of corporate, community, business and arts entities, including Grounds For Sculpture, Princeton Friends of Opera, WWFM The Classical Network, Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Burlington Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce, Mercer County Italian-American Festival, Italian-American National Hall of Fame, Dorothea’s House of Princeton, PSE&G, Verizon, Merrill Lynch, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Trenton Children’s Chorus, Passaggio Youth Chorale, American Repertory Ballet, Nai-Ni Chen Dance company, Princeton Youth Ballet and others.

creative content and production innovation

Over the years, Boheme Opera has broadened its artistic horizons as the host of a Broadway preview entitled Warsaw, produced Carlisle Floyd’s stunning Americana opera Susannah, mounted a complete staging of Leonard Bernstein’s riveting West Side Story, presented two, consecutive-season theatrical versions of Handel’s Messiah, gave center stage to Humperdinck’s children’s opera Hansel and Gretel, and ventured into the world of Gilbert and Sullivan with The Pirates of Penzance.

Always seeking to innovate in all aspects of our productions, the spring of 2012 saw us initiate virtual sets by master digital artist, J. Matthew Root, in a critically acclaimed production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Mr. Root further developed virtual sets in new productions of Gounod’s Faust, Verdi’s La Traviata, Puccini’s La Boheme, Bizet’s Carmen, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, the double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci and Verdi’s Aida.

Most recently, Boheme Opera featured Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti in its Bernstein Centennial Celebration, and staged Gian Carlo Menotti’s inspiring Amahl and the Night Visitors.

expanding our community Outreach

Outreach and expanded presentations in Boheme Opera’s programming include open-air concerts at the Annual Mercer County Italian-American Festival and parks in Bordentown and Monroe Township; holiday concerts at Hamilton’s iconic Grounds For Sculpture; our company main stage debut in Cherry Hill, NJ, with Rossini’s The Barber of Seville; and in the past two seasons, concert operas at Ann’s Choice adult community in Warminster, PA, with performances of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Don Carlo, Un Ballo in Maschera and Otello, as well as Donizetti’s L’elisir d’Amore and Don Pasquale. We have also become popular with our thematic, up-close-and-personal Monroe Township Library series and restaurant presentations.